A Delhi court on Thursday remanded former managing director of the Reliance Anil Ambani Group (RAAG), Sateesh Seth, to 14 days in judicial custody in a money laundering case linked to hawala money transfer. According to reports from ANI, Vacation Judge Rashmi Gupta sent Seth to judicial custody till July 2 after the completion of his custodial interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The court allowed Seth to carry his glasses and medicines as per a doctor's prescription while in jail, and directed jail authorities to take an appropriate decision regarding his request for a bed in accordance with the jail manual. As reported by ANI, the court's decision came after considering the ED's application seeking 14 days of judicial custody, with the remand order passed after a long hearing of around three hours.
Seth was produced before the court a day before the expiry of his six-day ED custody granted on June 14. As reported by ANI, the ED has arrested Seth in a case arising out of allegations that funds were siphoned abroad through hawala channels by creating fictitious bills against allegedly overvalued diamond imports. The agency's investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) identified Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. as the primary beneficiary of a large-scale financial fraud involving the alleged diversion of public funds from two National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) road projects. According to ANI, the ED produced the accused on the night of June 13 at the residence of the vacation judge of Dwarka court, with the court having opined that there was a need for remanding him to ED custody for detailed and sustained interrogation.
According to the agency, its investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) identified Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. as the primary beneficiary of a large-scale financial fraud involving the alleged diversion of public funds from two National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) road projects, the Jaipur-Reengus toll road project and the Trichi-Karur toll road project. As reported by ANI, the ED alleged that Reliance Infra was among the corporate entities that used shell companies to transfer funds abroad and siphoned off about ₹92 crore. The investigation centers on serious allegations regarding the illicit transfer of funds abroad using hawala channels, with the scheme involving the creation of fictitious invoices designed to facilitate the export of funds under the guise of overvalued diamond imports. The ED's Special Counsel argued that RIL diverted approximately ₹92 crores (₹90.16 crores after deduction of TDS) from these projects through a premeditated scheme involving fictitious sub-contracting arrangements, layered through a network of shell entities.
The ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on the basis of an FIR lodged by the Mumbai Police in February 2026. According to ANI, the ED has registered a case in relation to an FIR of February 11, 2026 under sections 409, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120B IPC by DB Marg Police Station, Greater Mumbai city, Maharashtra. The investigation has revealed that several shell companies such as M/s Geet Exim Pvt. Ltd. (GEPL), Vibha Impex Pvt. Ltd. (VIPL), and Pahal Impex Pvt. Ltd. (PIPL) were found to be involved in siphoning funds abroad through hawala by creating fictitious bills against overvalued diamond imports. As reported by ANI, apart from the ED proceedings, a case under Section 37 of FEMA, read with Section 132 of the Income Tax Act has been registered, where search proceedings were conducted. The ED has also registered a case under Section 37 of FEMA, read with Section 132 of the Income Tax Act, where search proceedings were conducted.
According to ANI, in the Jaipur Project, the RIL awarded the construction contract to M/s Prakash Asphalting and Toll Highways (PATH) for ₹315 crores, with RIL making advance payments of ₹39.2 crores to PATH in September 2010 under an undated amendment to the construction agreement. The ED alleged that PATH further transferred ₹38 crores to GEPL, which is a shell entity whose bank details were furnished to PATH by the Secretary to Sudhir Hoshing at RIL. Similarly, in the Trichi-Karur Project, the SPV of RIL engaged M/s Utility Energy Tech and Engineers Pvt. Ltd. (UEEPL), later renamed as Reliance Utility Engineers Pvt. Ltd. (RUEPL), as EPC contractor, with the ED arguing that UEEPL awarded this construction contract to KCPL, which received ₹50.96 crores from UEEPL. Out of this amount, ₹40.56 crores were transferred to PIPL without any agreement or actual work having been executed.
Advocate S S Boparai and Sirhaan Seth appeared for Sateesh Seth, arguing that Seth had attended 3 summons in the connected case of FEMA in the year 2025 and had also appeared before the Investigating Officer of ED on May 4, 2026, in Delhi. As reported by ANI, the counsel submitted that Seth suffered a brain haemorrhage and was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi on the same date and got discharged on May 6, after which he was again admitted to Kokila Ben Hospital for 5 days. The counsel argued that Seth's medical condition is very severe, he is 70 years old, and his medical documents clearly show that he requires urgent medical supervision, therefore he should be immediately released. However, the court noted that the profile and the role of the arrestee in committing the offence have been explained by the ED in the application, with the portion of the proceeds of crime diverted abroad yet to be traced, making custodial interrogation necessary.
