The Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued notices to two top officials of the Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Media Works Private Ltd., to appear before it this week in connection with a matter related to the conversion of Adlabs Limited into Reliance Media Works Limited.
Reliable sources have revealed that notices were sent to Ramesh Venkat and Amitabh Jhunjhunwala to appear before the Mumbai branch of the Enforcement Directorate on March 12 and 13 respectively, as they were the authorized signatories of Reliance Media Works Limited.
Both officials were issued notices to appear before the ED under Section 37 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), along with Section 131(1) of the Income Tax Act.
It has been reliably revealed that the summons centers on the activities of Adlabs Ltd. at the time of issuance of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCB), and the commercial relationship of Adlabs, now Reliance Media Works Limited , with London-based BT Globenet Nominee's Limited.
According to documents available in the public domain, BT Globenet was the initial investor of FCCB-related issues. The ED has also asked both Reliance Media Works Limited officials to provide details of the shareholding pattern of the company, besides information on the inflow and outflow of FCCB proceeds from the company's bank account.
Adlabs is owned by the Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Land Pvt. Ltd. (RLPL). Reliance ADAG entered the company as majority promoter shareholder in June 2005 after making an Rs.350 crore acquisition.
Amitabh Jhunjhunwala is said to be the second most important man in ADAG, and reportedly serves as the eyes and ears of Anil Ambani.
The investigation into Anil Ambani's entertainment conglomerate further raises question marks over the group's functioning.
Recently, there were revelations about Ambani's reportedly hidden HSBC bank account in Switzerland, although, with the passage of time, the matter has lost much implication.
Recent documented accounting revelations, however, tell a different story. Account details allegedly establish a commercial link between the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) and a firm called 'Flag Telecom' between December 2004 and August 2007.
