NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED)Special Task Force (STF), has arrested Punit Garg, ex-director of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM), under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in connection with an ongoing investigation relating to over Rs 40,000 crore alleged bank fraud and money laundering by RCOM and its group entities.
Garg, who was arrested on January 29, was produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi which sent him to nine days of ED custody to trace the remaining Proceeds of Crime (PoC), identify other beneficiaries, and uncover the complete money-laundering trail.
The arrest was made pursuant to an investigation initiated based on CBI’s FIR dated August 21, 2025, for offences under Sections 120-B, 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Sections 13(2) read with section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1989.
Garg served as president of RCOM, handling the Global Enterprise business of RCOM from 2006 to 2013. Thereafter, he served as president (Regulatory Affairs) from 2014 to 2017. Subsequently, in October 2017, he was appointed as executive director of RCOM.
From April 2019 to April 2025, he served as non-Executive Director of RCOM.
ED investigation has revealed that Garg, while holding senior managerial and directorial positions in RCOM over an extended period from 2001 to 2025, was actively involved in the acquisition, possession, concealment, layering, and dissipation of PoC generated from the said bank fraud.
It has been found that the PoC were diverted through multiple foreign subsidiaries and offshore entities of RCOM. In particular, it was found that the PoC were diverted for the purchase of a luxury condominium apartment in Manhattan, New York, United States of America (USA). This property was sold during the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of RCOM fraudulently by Garg.
The sale proceeds of $ 8.3 million were remitted from the USA under the guise of a sham investment arrangement with a Dubai-based entity controlled by a Pakistan-linked individual, without the knowledge or consent of the resolution professional.
The investigation has further revealed that part of the PoC – public money taken by RCOM as bank loans – was diverted for Garg’s personal expenses, including overseas education-related payments of his children.
