New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken into custody Ashok Pal, Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Power, part of Anil Ambani’s industrial group, in connection with a money laundering investigation involving a purportedly fake bank guarantee worth Rs 68 crore, official sources confirmed on Saturday.

Pal was arrested late Friday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after being questioned by the agency. He is scheduled to be presented before a special court on Saturday, where the ED will request custodial remand for further interrogation.

The probe revolves around a bank guarantee of Rs 68.2 crore submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power. Investigators determined that the guarantee, originally issued by a company formerly known as Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited, was fraudulent.

The ED identified the company allegedly behind the fake guarantees as Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink, which reportedly ran a scheme providing counterfeit bank guarantees to corporate entities for an 8% commission. Earlier, in August, the agency carried out searches against the firm and its promoters and arrested its Managing Director, Partha Sarathi Biswal.

According to ED officials, Pal played a “key role” in diverting funds, as he and other executives were authorised by the board to approve and sign all documents for SECI’s BESS tender, leveraging Reliance Power’s financial standing for the bid. The investigation revealed that the guarantee claimed to be issued by FirstRand Bank in Manila, Philippines — a location where the bank has no presence.

The case originated from a November 2024 FIR filed by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW). Reliance Power has maintained that it was a victim of “fraud, forgery, and cheating” and had reported the matter to the stock exchange on November 7, 2024. A company spokesperson noted that a criminal complaint against the third-party firm had been lodged with the EOW in October 2024 and said due legal procedures would follow.

ED sources further revealed that Biswal Tradelink created a fake email domain — s-bi.co.in, closely resembling the State Bank of India’s official domain — to give the appearance of legitimacy in communications sent to SECI. Pal allegedly facilitated approvals and documentation through digital channels such as Telegram and WhatsApp, bypassing the company’s normal SAP/vendor master workflow.

Investigators also described Biswal Tradelink as a “paper entity,” with its registered office being a residential property belonging to a relative of the director.