Unlawfully fabricated emails from SBI, counterfeit bank guarantees lead to initial arrest in a Rs 3,000 crore loan swindle scheme within the Reliance Group
In a significant development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Partha Sarathi Biswal, the Managing Director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd (BTPL), on August 1, 2025. The arrest is in connection with a ₹68.2 crore fake bank guarantee scheme involving Reliance Group companies.
The investigation began with an FIR filed by Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in November 2024. BTPL allegedly issued a forged bank guarantee submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in the name of Reliance NU BESS Limited and Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited, both connected to Anil Ambani’s group. The fake guarantees were backed by counterfeit communications impersonating the State Bank of India using a spoofed domain.
During the investigation, the ED discovered multiple undisclosed bank accounts, dummy directors, and significant financial irregularities at BTPL, a shell company incorporated in 2019. The ED has also detected about seven "undisclosed" bank accounts of Biswal Tradelink.
The alleged scheme involved the issuance of "fake" bank guarantees against a commission of eight per cent. BTPL reportedly charged approximately 8% commission for issuing these fake bank guarantees. The ED has also summoned Anil Ambani for questioning on August 5 in relation to this case and a separate Rs 17,000 crore loan fraud case.
The Enforcement Directorate's case against Biswal Tradelink stems from the November 2024 FIR of the Delhi Police EOW. The ED has written to the National Internet Exchange of India seeking domain registration details of the fake email domain used by Biswal Tradelink. The company used an email domain - s-bi.co.in - to create a facade of genuineness, impersonating the State Bank of India.
The registered office of Biswal Tradelink is a residential property belonging to a relative and no company records were found at the address during the searches. The ED seized some documents related to this transaction during the recent searches against the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group companies in Mumbai.
Biswal is in ED custody until August 6, and the ED plans to confront him with Anil Ambani during questioning. The latest update is that the ED has taken Biswal into custody from Bhubaneswar on Friday.
- The fake bank guarantee scheme involving Reliance Group companies, uncovered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in August 2025, was initiated by the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in the form of an FIR filed in November 2024.
- The ED investigation discovered numerous undisclosed bank accounts, dummy directors, and financial irregularities at Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd (BTPL), a shell company incorporated in 2019, and allegedly detected about seven undisclosed bank accounts of Biswal Tradelink.
- The ED has also summoned Anil Ambani for questioning on August 5 for this case and a separate Rs 17,000 crore loan fraud case, and seized documents related to this transaction during the searches against the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group companies in Mumbai.
- The ED's case against Biswal Tradelink is significant in the general-news landscape, Crime-and-Justice sector, finance, business, and the broader DEFI market, as it involves the issuance of fake bank guarantees and multiple financial irregularities.
