Reliance Power CFO, two others held for alleged ₹136 crore SECI tender fraud – CNBC TV18

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police has arrested the chief financial officer (CFO) of Reliance Power Limited and two others for allegedly preparing and using forged bank guarantees worth over ₹136 crore to secure a tender from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), an official said on Tuesday.

The accused have been identified as Ashok Kumar Pal (50), CFO of Reliance Power Ltd; Partha Sarthi Biswal (54), managing director of Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd; and Amarnath Dutta (50), a resident of Kolkata, the EOW said in a statement.

According to the statement, the case was registered on June 24 last year under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act at the EOW police station following a complaint by SECI manager Biblesh Meena.

The police said that Reliance NU BESS Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Power Ltd, had submitted two forged bank guarantees of ₹68.20 crore each during a tender process floated by SECI. These guarantees were purportedly issued by foreign banks.

“To lend credibility, the accused allegedly used fake email communications and fabricated structured financial messaging system (SFMS) confirmations purportedly issued by the State Bank of India (SBI), which were later denied by the bank,” the statement read.

During the probe, it was revealed that Pal, along with Biswal and Dutta, conspired to arrange the forged bank guarantees through intermediaries by paying substantial sums for creating fake documents and endorsements.

“Ashok Kumar Pal conspired with co-accused persons for arranging forged bank guarantees from foreign banks to secure the tender with SECI,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Subodh Kumar Goswami (EOW) in the statement said.

A special team was constituted under the supervision of Goswami to investigate the case and apprehend the accused.

All three accused were arrested on April 15 and have been remanded to police custody till April 23, it read.

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The police further said that Pal is a qualified chartered accountant (CA) and has been working with Reliance ADAG since 2018. Biswal, a Class 12 pass, was acting as an intermediary through his company, while Dutta, who holds a BCA and a diploma in import-export, worked as a middleman in the conspiracy, it read.

Further investigation into the case is underway, it read.

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