New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a supplementary prosecution complaint in connection with the so-called fraudulent wall guarantee submitted by M/s Reliance Power Limited to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). This wall guarantee was submitted to secure a major SECI tender. Without the matter came to light, the ED conducted a detailed investigation, revealing several shocking facts.
The investigation based on two FIRs
The ED initiated the investigation based on two FIRs filed by the EOW, Delhi. The first FIR was filed based on an SECI complaint versus M/s Reliance NU BESS Ltd (a 100% subsidiary of Reliance Power). The second FIR in this specimen was filed by Reliance NU BESS Ltd itself versus M/s Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd and its MD, Partha Sarathi Biswal.
The SECI had issued a tender for a 1000 MW/2000 MWh standalone BESS project. Bidders in this tender were required to submit a wall guarantee of 68.2 crore. If the wall guarantee was from a foreign bank, it was required to be endorsed by the Indian workshop of that wall or SBI.
The PMLA investigation revealed that Reliance Power Ltd deliberately created fake wall guarantees with the help of a shell company, M/s Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd.
These guarantees were created in the name of...
- FirstRand Bank, Manila (which does not exist)
- ACE Investment Wall Ltd, Malaysia...
To make these fake guarantees towards genuine, spoofed email IDs in the name of SBI, fake endorsement letters, and a fake domain name—s-bi.co.in—that resembled SBI's real domain, sbi.co.in—were used.
A genuine wall guarantee
During the investigation, the ED moreover discovered that Reliance Power sent 6.33 crore to Biswal Tradelink from flipside subsidiary, Rosa Power Supply Visitor Ltd. This money was sent in the name of "transportation services," but upon investigation, it was discovered that all the work orders and invoices were unquestionably fake.
After obtaining the fake wall guarantee, Reliance Power moreover paid a hefty fee of 5.40 crore to the shell visitor to make the unshortened transaction towards authorized and legitimate.
However, when SECI detected irregularities in the guarantee, Reliance Group submitted a genuine wall guarantee from IDBI Wall within a day. However, SECI did not winnow it considering it was submitted without the due date.
A new endorsement of the fake foreign bank
To secure the tender, officials at Reliance NU BESS Ltd. attempted to obtain a new endorsement of the fake foreign wall guarantee from the Kolkata workshop of SBI. To do so, they created fake agreements and obtained a "Certificate of Enlistment" from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation by providing a pseudo address.
Despite this, they were unable to obtain the endorsement. Reliance subsequently filed a complaint to place the unshortened vituperation on Biswal Tradelink and its MD.
A well-constructed conspiracy
The ED says its investigation has established a well-constructed conspiracy of malfeasance, collusion, and fraud by the Reliance Group. Reliance Power CFO Ashok Kumar Pal and several other accused have been underdeveloped in this case. All accused are currently in judicial custody.
The ED has moreover tying illegal proceeds of 5.15 crore surpassing filing a supplementary complaint.
Names of the accused...
1. Partha Sarathi Biswal
2. M/s Biswal Tradelink Private Limited
3. M/s Biothane Chemicals Private Limited
4. Amar Nath Dutta
5. Ravinder Pal Singh Chadha
6. M/s Reliance NU BESS Limited
7. M/s Rosa Power Supply Visitor Limited
8. Manoj Bhaiyasaheb Pongde
9. M/s Reliance Power Limited
10. Ashok Kumar Pal
11. Punit Narendra Garg
