A Delhi court has extended the judicial custody of former senior Reliance Capital executives Amitabh Jhunjhunwala and Amit Bapna till May 29 in an alleged ₹11,500 crore money laundering and bank loan fraud case linked to Reliance Home Finance Limited and Reliance Commercial Finance Limited. The Enforcement Directorate is probing alleged diversion of funds through a network of shell companies.
Court Says Probe Still at Early Stage
The order was passed by Special Judge Hasan Anzar at Rouse Avenue Court. The court observed that the investigation is still at a nascent stage and requires deeper examination of complex financial transactions.
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The matter has been listed for further hearing on May 18. During the hearing, the court is expected to take up two applications, one seeking permission for inmate meetings and another requesting medical documents related to Jhunjhunwala, who appeared through video conferencing due to a reported fracture.
According to the ED, the alleged fraud relates to financial activities between 2015 and 2020, when large corporate loans were sanctioned through RHFL and RCFL. The agency claims a substantial portion of the funds was diverted from legitimate business purposes and routed through 45 shell companies controlled by an associate identified as Pradeep.
Loans Allegedly Routed Through Shell Firms
The ED has alleged that the shell companies had no genuine business operations and weak financial structures. Investigators claim these entities were largely used as pass-through vehicles to siphon funds.
Many directors linked to these firms were reportedly employees or close associates of the group, raising concerns over governance failures and conflict of interest. The agency has also flagged alleged procedural violations in loan approvals, including bypassing credit committee reviews and ignoring lending norms issued by RBI and NHB.
In several cases, loans were allegedly sanctioned without proper field verification or assessment of repayment capacity. The ED claims RHFL disbursed around ₹35,368.97 crore between 2015 and 2020, with nearly 80% directed toward non-housing corporate lending.
Fund Trail and Executives’ Role Under Probe
According to the agency, around 90% of RHFL’s corporate loans were allegedly extended to group-linked shell entities, leading to defaults of ₹7,523.46 crore. After partial recovery under restructuring agreements, more than ₹5,400 crore was classified as proceeds of crime.
In RCFL’s case, the ED claims ₹7,408.70 crore was routed through 36 shell companies through 78 loan accounts. The company later faced severe financial stress and was eventually acquired by Authum Investment and Infrastructure Ltd.
Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, who held senior leadership roles in Reliance Capital between 2003 and 2019, is accused of playing a key role in financial and administrative decisions. The ED has cited electronic evidence, including emails and internal communications, to support its allegations.
Amit Bapna, former CFO and COO of the group, is accused of instructing executives to approve questionable loans. Both Jhunjhunwala and Bapna were arrested on April 15, 2026, and later placed in judicial custody after initial interrogation.
During proceedings, the defence argued that repeated extensions of custody were being sought mechanically and without substantial justification. The ED countered that the case involves a complex financial network and requires further investigation to trace beneficiaries and complete the money trail analysis.
