The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Director of Reliance Power, in connection with a Rs 68.2 crore fake bank guarantee case. Pal is an aide of Anil Ambani and has been associated with Reliance Power for over seven years.
Background of the Case
The ED case stems from a 2024 FIR filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) regarding a bogus bank guarantee submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a PSU under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The fake guarantees were issued in the names of Reliance NU BESS Limited and Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited, both linked to the Anil Ambani group.
A key player in the racket was Biswal Tradelink, an Odisha-based company, whose managing director, Partha Sarathi Biswal, was arrested in August 2025 for allegedly facilitating the fraudulent guarantees.
How the Scam Worked
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Fraudsters used a spoofed email domain “s-bi.co.in” to impersonate the State Bank of India (SBI).
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SECI was misled into accepting the fake bank guarantees as genuine.
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Biswal Tradelink reportedly charged an 8% commission for arranging the guarantees.
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ED investigations revealed that Biswal Tradelink existed only on paper, with no statutory records at its registered address.
About Ashok Pal
Pal, a Chartered Accountant, became the CFO of Reliance Power in January 2023. He has served the company in senior roles, including Executive Director, for over seven years.
The ED is continuing its probe into the financial irregularities involving Reliance Group executives and related entities.
This case highlights ongoing scrutiny of corporate governance and financial misconduct in India’s energy sector.
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