Anil Ambani again skips ED summons

New Delhi: Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani refused to appear before the Enforcement Directorate in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case for the second time on Monday.

The businessman said he was ready to depose before the federal probe agency via “virtual appearance/recorded video”, a statement he made when he skipped the summons the first time on November 14.

The ED had rejected Ambani’s offer and issued him a fresh summons for Monday. It was not clear if the agency would issue a third summons now.

Proceedings under the FEMA are civil in nature, as against the criminal processes under the anti-money laundering law.

In a statement, a spokesperson of the 66-year-old businessman said, “Mr Anil D. Ambani has offered to make himself available for the recording of his statement, at any date and time suitable to ED, via virtual appearance/recorded video.”

According to sources, the agency had asked Ambani to appear before it in person on Friday and record his statement under the FEMA.

The investigation pertains to the Jaipur-Reengus highway project.

In an earlier statement, the ED said that after recently attaching assets worth Rs 7,500 crore belonging to Ambani and his companies under the anti-money laundering law, a search carried out against Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. found that Rs 40 crore was allegedly “siphoned” from the highway project.