Who Is Ashok Kumar Pal? ED Arrests Reliance Power CFO In Fake Bank Guarantee Case

In a significant development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) formally arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Director of Reliance Power Limited (RPL), late last night.

The arrest is linked to an alleged fake bank guarantee and fake invoicing case involving the Anil Ambani group. Sources indicate that Pal played a pivotal role in the scheme, which involved the diversion of funds from a publicly listed company.

Who is Ashok Kumar?

Ashok Kumar Pal is a qualified Chartered Accountant with over 25 years of experience in finance, accounts, taxation, and management information systems (MIS). 

He currently serves as the CFO and Executive Director of Reliance Power Limited, a listed company where the public holds more than 75% of the shares. In this capacity, he oversees overall finance, accounts, taxation, MIS, and various regulatory compliances.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Pal's career began in 2003 at L'Oréal, where he worked for a year as an Accounts Officer. His responsibilities included handling imported unit accounts, inventory valuation, forex transactions, reinstatement of forex creditors as per AS-11 standards, and quarterly audits by PwC. He was also involved in managing corporate marketing expenses accounting.

In August 2005, Pal joined Reliance Industries Ltd. as Manager Accounts, a role he held for 5.5 years. During this period, he worked across various areas, including accounts, banking, Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), income tax assessment compliances, service tax, commercial functions, and MIS reporting.

From December 2010, he moved to Clearpack, a leading provider of automatic packaging solutions for industries such as food, beverage, home and personal care, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals.

As Manager Accounts, he headed accounts, finance, and taxation for two companies in India. His key duties encompassed accounts finalization, budgeting, MIS, working capital management, day-to-day cash flow management, statutory audits, transfer pricing audits, and internal audits.

Additionally, he set up a liaison office for a group company in India and managed RBI compliances.

In May 2012, Pal joined Deepak Nitrite Limited as Chief Manager (Head Segment Accounts, Taxation, and MIS). He led the accounts team for three plants in the Fine and Specialty Chemicals segment from May 2012 to November 2016, and subsequently handled the Basic Chemicals segment until February 2018. 

His contributions included fulfilling all audit requirements, preparing data for board meetings, managing tax audits and transfer pricing queries, adopting cost audit records for the first time, and driving continuous improvements company-wide. 

Pal also played a role in securing an anti-dumping order on imports from China and pursuing similar actions for other countries. He was involved in budget preparation, monitoring budgetary controls through analysis and costing, presenting MIS to senior management, and handling commercial negotiations and internal controls related to business.

When did Pal join Reliance Power?

Pal joined the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power in February 2018 as Deputy General Manager (GM). He was promoted to GM in April 2021, CFO in January 2023, and Executive Director in September 2024.

Allegations and Role in the Case

The ED's investigation centers on Pal's alleged involvement in a fraudulent scheme tied to a Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) tender. 

Sources told Republic TV that a board resolution empowered Pal and others to finalize, approve, sign, and execute all documents for the tender, as well as to leverage RPL's financial capability for the bid.

Pal is accused of playing a crucial role in submitting a bogus bank guarantee worth over Rs. 68 crores to SECI, with the intent to defraud the public sector undertaking (PSU). 

He allegedly had a vital part in the planning, supervision, funding, and concealment of the forged bank guarantee scheme. This included selecting Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd (BTPL) to provide the fake guarantee. 

BTPL, a small entity operating from a residential address with no credible track record in bank guarantees, was chosen without proper vendor diligence, leading to the execution of a non-genuine instrument. The director of BTPL, Partha Sarathi Biswal, is already in judicial custody.

Furthermore, Pal is implicated in diverting crores of rupees through fake transport invoices. He reportedly approved fund releases and facilitated paperwork via Telegram and WhatsApp, bypassing the normal SAP and vendor master workflow processes.

Also Read: ED Nabs Reliance Power CFO Ashok Kumar Pal in Fake Guarantee Case

As per sources, the scale of the fraud is highlighted by the use of a bank guarantee purportedly from FirstRand Bank in Manila, Philippines—a branch that does not exist. Investigators have uncovered that Pal utilized a fake bank guarantee racket employing spoofed and lookalike domains to impersonate legitimate banks. 

Examples include emails from addresses like sbi.17313@s-bi.co.in, where a hyphen is inserted into "sbi" to create "s-bi." Other deceptive domains involved in the racket include lndianbank.in, lndusindbank.in, pnblndia.in, psdbank.co.in, siliguripnb.co.in, Iobbank.co.in, and unionbankoflndia.co.in. 
These use subtle alterations, such as replacing "i" with "l" or minor textual tweaks, to mimic official bank domains. 

The primary purpose of these domains was to forge emails and letters, presenting counterfeit instruments as authentic.

An ED statement emphasized, "Mr. Ashok Pal played a crucial part in the fraud which affects the public." The case underscores concerns over financial misconduct in a publicly held company, with ongoing probes into the broader implications for the Anil Ambani group.