The CBI registered a criminal case against Jai Anmol Anil Ambani, son of industrialist Anil Ambani, and conducted searches at Jai Anmol’s Mumbai home following allegations of cheating and funds diversion that caused Union Bank of India a loss of ₹228 crore, the agency said on Tuesday.

Anil Ambani and his Reliance Group of companies are already facing a money laundering investigation into the alleged irregularities in loans worth approximately ₹17,000 crore.

The CBI acted on a complaint from the bank (erstwhile Andhra Bank) against Reliance Home Finance Ltd; Jai Anmol, former director of Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL); and Ravindra Sharad Sudhakar, the company’s former CEO and whole-time director. The complainant alleged that RHFL did not repay the credit availed from the bank, which turned the company’s account into a non-performing asset in 2019.

The FIR, registered on December 6 at the CBI’s Banking Security and Fraud Branch (BSFB) in Delhi, has named Jai Anmol, unknown associates and public servants. The cheating and funds diversion allegedly occurred between April 1, 2016, and June 30, 2019. The accused have been charged with criminal conspiracy and cheating, along with Sections 13(2) and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI said RHFL had availed credit limits of ₹450 crore from the bank’s SCF branch in Mumbai citing business needs. The bank had laid down conditions to maintain financial discipline, including timely repayment, service of interest and other charges and submission of the position of security and other required papers in time and routing the entire sale proceeds through the bank account.

The company allegedly failed to pay the instalments to the bank.

A forensic examination of the accounts was carried out by Grant Thornton for the review period April 1, 2016-June 30, 2019. The review showed that borrowed funds were misapportioned and considered a diversion of funds, the sources said.

“The accused persons in their capacity of erstwhile promoters/ directors of the borrower company committed fraudulent misappropriation of funds through manipulation of accounts and criminal breach of trust and diverted/ siphoned off the funds for the purposes other than the purpose for which finance was extended,” the bank alleged.