Reliance Power CFO Ashok Kumar Pal was arrested, and the Enforcement Directorate secured a two-day custody to probe alleged fake bank guarantees and invoicing. The investigation targets financial irregularities linked to his role as CFO and Executive Director.
A Delhi court granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) a two-day custody of Ashok Kumar Pal, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Director of Reliance Power, as part of an investigation into alleged fake bank guarantees and invoicing.
Special Judge Kiran Gupta approved the ED’s request for custody, and Pal is set to be presented in the Patiala House court on Monday.
He was brought to the residence of the special judge by the ED, with Advocate Vijay Agarwal representing him.
Ashok Kumar Pal arrested by the ED late Friday night after several hours of questioning at the agency’s office in Delhi. Officials report that Pal, in his role as CFO of Reliance Power Limited (RPL), which is publicly traded with over 75 percent of shares held by the public, is alleged to have played a “crucial role” in diverting company funds and submitting forged financial documents.
The investigation centers around a fraudulent bank guarantee exceeding Rs 68 crore that was submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) tender.
According to officials, Pal was authorized by a board resolution to finalize, approve, and execute documents on behalf of RPL for the SECI bid.
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In this role, he is accused of conspiring to submit a fake bank guarantee to defraud the public sector unit (PSU). The ED’s investigation revealed that the bogus guarantee was issued in the name of “FirstRand Bank, Manila, Philippines,” a location where the bank has no operational branch.
Officials noted,
“The guarantee was arranged through Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd (BTPL), a small entity operating from a residential address with no credible record in providing such guarantees. BTPL director Partha Sarathi Biswal, who is already in judicial custody, is alleged to have assisted in executing the forged document,”
Investigators also claimed that Pal approved fictitious transport invoices worth several crores to facilitate the diversion of funds. He reportedly processed payments and managed documentation via Telegram and WhatsApp, circumventing Reliance Power’s official SAP and vendor master systems.
Additionally, the ED alleged that Pal utilized a fake bank guarantee racket that operated through spoofed email domains mimicking those of major Indian banks, such as “s-bi.co.in” instead of the legitimate “sbi.co.in.” Similar lookalike domains were also used to impersonate other banks, including Indian Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Punjab National Bank.
Officials contend that Pal’s actions are part of a larger criminal conspiracy involving forged instruments and fraudulent communication channels aimed at deceiving public institutions and misappropriating funds from a publicly listed company.