MUMBAI: In a significant regulatory action, the late legendary Industrialsist Dhirubhai Ambani family's younger scion Anil Ambani, the chairman of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, and 24 others have been banned from participating in the Indian securities market for a period of five years. This decision was taken by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) last Thursday, following allegations of fund diversion from Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL), a company under his purview.

SEBI had also imposed a fine of Rs 25 crore on Anil Ambani, saying he orchestrated a scheme to "siphon off" funds from RHFL, a listed subsidiary of conglomerate Reliance Group of which he is chairman. As per the ban he and the other 24 will not be able to access the securities market and are prohibited from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities, directly or indirectly.

The SEBI's extensive investigation, which covered the financial year 2018-19, was initiated following multiple complaints regarding potential misappropriation of RHFL's resources. It was found that loans amounting to Rs 1,323.43 crore were disbursed to eight entities that were initially classified as related parties but were reclassified just before the loans were granted. This manipulation of financial accounts was deemed detrimental to the company and its stakeholders.

Anil Ambani and his elder brother Mukesh Ambani had split in July 2006 the petrochemical to communication conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd created from scratch by their father Dhirubhai Ambani. While Anil Ambani's Reliance Group got the businesses of financial services, infrastructure and telecommunications the elder brother Mukesh got the traditional oil refining and petrochemicals business. He later ventured into the telecom business and set up the leading brand of Jio which is one of the market leaders in the space. 

On the other hand, in recent years, Anil Ambani has witnessed three of his group's largest companies - Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, and Reliance Infrastructure - faced bankruptcy due to unpaid debt.