New Delhi: Taking its money laundering probe against Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani and firms linked to him to the next level, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the premises of Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman, President (Corporate Affairs) in the group, across two days Tuesday and Wednesday. The agency also arrested online influencer and entrepreneur Sandeepa Virk on charges of engaging in illicit liaison work with Sethuraman, according to an ED spokesman Wednesday.
Popular with more than one million followers on Instagram, Virk claims to have founded a fashion and beauty firm, Hyboocare, which claims to sell products approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Virk’s arrest is the second such action by the probe agency as part of its wide-ranging crackdown on current and former companies of the Reliance Group, controlled by Anil Ambani.
Earlier this month, the agency had arrested Partha Sarathi Biswal, Managing Director of Bhubaneswar-based Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd (BTPL), on charges of facilitating a fake bank guarantee of Rs 68.2 crore and obtaining endorsements from State Bank of India to participate in tenders of Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited. For providing the bank guarantee, Rs 5.4 crore was received by BTPL from Reliance Power, the agency alleged.
The role of Virk surfaced in the probe against Sethuraman, an agency source told ThePrint, adding that she was found to be in “regular touch” with him for “illegal liaison” activities.
The particular money laundering case against Virk is based on a Punjab Police case registered in Mohali on a complaint of one Jasneet Kaur, who was allegedly cheated by Virk to the tune of Rs 6 crore.
“Virk is accused of impersonating officers of law enforcement agencies, duping individuals, and participating in a Rs 6 crore fraud against complainant Jasneet Kaur, under the pretext of investment in a film project. The main accused in the fraud, Mr Amit Gupta alias Nageshwar Gupta, was declared a proclaimed offender in October 2024,” an agency official told ThePrint.
“Virk was also found to be operating a fake e-commerce website, hyboocare.com, falsely claiming FDA approval for products. She has proceeds from crime worth crores, despite her reported annual income being meagre,” he added.
“She was under the lens for fraudulent activities for a long time. She claimed to have contacts in the Enforcement Directorate and, on that pretext, reached out to Anil Ambani through Sethuraman, promising to help in the ongoing investigation,” the ED official told ThePrint.
Sethuraman was found involved in diversion of funds from Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL) and Reliance Capital, the ED said.
Virk’s arrest comes days after Anil Ambani was questioned by ED officials at the agency’s headquarters in New Delhi regarding diversion of thousands of crores taken as loans from banks and invested in firms directly or indirectly controlled by him and his family.
Who is Sethuraman?
Sethuraman worked as director of several firms currently and previously controlled by Anil Ambani, including Reliance Capital. He was first appointed as additional director of the firm in December 2019 and continued in this role until June 2020.
He was then elevated to director, a position he held until 29 November, 2021—the day the Reserve Bank of India superseded the Board of Directors of Reliance Capital on grounds of the firm defaulting on payment obligations and failing to address corporate governance concerns.
“The Reserve Bank will shortly initiate the process of resolution of the company under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Insolvency and Liquidation Proceedings of Financial Service Providers and Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2019. The Reserve Bank will also apply to NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal), Mumbai, for appointing the Administrator as Insolvency Resolution Professional,” an RBI spokesperson had said in November 2021.
Additionally, Sethuraman serves as director of Thales Reliance Defence Systems Limited—a joint venture between Reliance Group and French firm Thales Group that supplies radar and electronic warfare sensors for Rafale jets manufactured by Dassault Aviation.
Ambani’s wife, Tina Ambani, is one of five directors of the JV, along with Jean Marc Alias and Alexis Francois Roland Dalem, who represent the Thales group in the venture formed in June 2017.
The probe by ED revealed that RCFL disbursed public funds amounting to Rs 18.71 crore to Sethuraman “without due diligence”. Additionally, the terms of credit allowed deferment of payment of both principal and interest for 15 months, with multiple waivers, according to the ED.
Sethuraman was also allegedly sanctioned a home loan amounting to Rs 22 crore from Reliance Capital, in violation of the established norms. These funds were eventually left unpaid and were misappropriated, an agency spokesperson said Wednesday.
In a statement to the media, a Reliance Group spokesperson said Sethuraman had termed the ED’s allegations as “entirely baseless”, and firmly denied any connection or involvement with Sandeepa Virk or any transactions related to her.
He also stated that the home loan he had received from Reliance Capital was granted following due process and was secured with property offered as collateral.
(This is an updated version of the report)
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Anil Ambani’s firms were under scanner of banks & SEBI before ED tightened noose around him
These influencers are a shady lot – engaging in illicit and illegal activities. Recent events have shown the need to monitor the activities of the influencer community. Hope the intelligence and security agencies are paying attention to this new nuisance.