The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, the chief financial officer (CFO) of Reliance Power Limited (RPL), on charges of submitting a fake bank guarantee and forging invoices. The move came after a long interview at the Delhi ED office on Friday night.
Pal, who works for a publicly listed RPL that the public owns more than 75 %, allegedly helped divert company money and create false financial records. Investigators say he approved a bogus bank guarantee worth more than ₹68 crore for a Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) tender for a battery‑energy‑storage system (BESS).
The ED reports that Pal acted on a board resolution that gave him the power to sign documents for the SECI bid. He allegedly colluded to submit a fake guarantee in the name of FirstRand Bank, Manila, a location where the bank has no branch. The guarantee was arranged through Biswal Tradelink Pvt. Ltd (BTPL), a small firm with no proven track record of issuing such guarantees. BTPL’s director, Partha Sarathi Biswal, who is already in custody, is said to have helped produce the forged document.
Pal also approved fake transport invoices worth crores of rupees to move money out of RPL. He reportedly cleared payments and handled paperwork via Telegram and WhatsApp, bypassing the company’s official SAP and vendor master systems.
The ED claims Pal used a network of fake bank‑guarantee scams that spoofed email domains of major Indian banks, such as s-bi.co.in for State Bank of India. Similar look‑alike domains were used to impersonate Indian Bank, IndusInd Bank and Punjab National Bank.
These actions are part of a broader criminal scheme involving forged documents and fraudulent communications aimed at deceiving public institutions and siphoning funds from a listed company. ()
Source: aninews
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