ED chargesheets ex-RCOM executive in Rs 40K-crore fraud

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed a chargesheet against former Reliance Communications (RCOM) president Punit Garg and another individual in its money-laundering probe into an alleged Rs 40,000-crore bank loan fraud, official sources said.

The chargesheet, running over 170 pages, was submitted before a special court at Rouse Avenue under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It names Garg and Vaishali Jairam Mane, a former director of US-based Bonn Investment Inc, as accused. Garg, 61, was arrested by the agency in January this year.

According to the ED, Garg held senior managerial and directorial roles at RCOM from 2001 to 2025 and was allegedly involved in the acquisition, concealment, layering and dissipation of proceeds of crime linked to the bank fraud. The agency claimed the funds were diverted through multiple foreign subsidiaries and offshore entities of the company.

Garg handled RCOM’s global enterprise business between 2006 and 2013, served as president (regulatory affairs) from 2014 to 2017. He was appointed executive director in October 2017. He later functioned as a non-executive director from April 2019 to April 2025.

Investigators alleged that part of the laundered money was used to purchase a luxury condominium in Manhattan, New York. Mane was linked to the transaction and has been named in the chargesheet. The property was allegedly sold in 2023 during RCOM’s corporate insolvency resolution process without the knowledge of the resolution professional.

The ED said sale proceeds of $8.3 million were routed from the US through a purported sham investment arrangement with a Dubai-based entity linked to a Pakistan-connected individual. A portion of the funds was also allegedly used for Garg’s personal expenses, including overseas education payments for his children.

The agency has constituted a special investigation team to examine alleged financial irregularities in group companies.