ED Arrests Amar Nath Dutta in ₹68 Crore Fake Bank Guarantee Case Linked to Reliance Power Subsidiary

On November 6, ED arrested Amar Nath Dutta under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002. He was arrested in connection with a money-laundering investigation involving the submission of fake bank guarantees (BGs) worth over ₹68 crore, forged BG endorsements, and fake SFMS confirmations to SECI by a subsidiary of Reliance Power Limited. He claims to provide consulting services in trade financing. In the present case, the accused is a resident of Kolkata who actively assisted Ashok Pal and Partha Sarathi Biswal in providing fake BGs. The accused was produced before the court of Additional Sessions Judge-04, Patiala House Court, New Delhi.

The ED initiated an investigation into the case based on three FIRs registered in this matter. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police also included FIR No. 0079/2025 registered by SECI. SECI, a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, suffered losses of over ₹100 crore due to fraudulently submitted bank guarantees by a subsidiary of Reliance Power. It is noteworthy that on 11/10/2025, Ashok Kumar Pal, the then Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Power Limited, was arrested by the ED in connection with money laundering charges in the same case. According to the ED, Ashok Pal's arrest follows the arrest of his associate, Partha Sarathi Biswal, MD of a shell company, M/s Biswal Tradelink Private Limited.

The ED, during its investigation, has revealed that fake SBI endorsements were created through the fake email domain sbi.17313@s-bi.co.in to mislead the SECI into believing the forged bank guarantees were genuine. Furthermore, the ED has identified additional fake domains of commercial banks, such as 'lndiabank.in', 'lndusindbank.in', 'pnblndia.in', 'psdbank.co.in', 'siliguripnb.co.in', 'lobbank.co.in', and 'unionbankofIndia.co.in'. Each of these uses single-character swaps or minor text changes. These fake domains are used by the same group of people. The ED's investigation is ongoing on various aspects, including identifying the beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime, tracing the end use of the funds, investigating the assets acquired from the proceeds of crime, and investigating the larger conspiracy and the role of additional individuals and entities.