Anil Ambani tells UK Court he 'sold jewellery for legal fees'; took loans from mother, son

India's richest man Mukesh Ambani's estranged brother and fellow industrialist Anil Ambani has said that his expenses are being borne by wife and family and he has even taken a loan from his son. He made these revelations when asked by London High Court on Friday in connection with the case over repayment of dues to a Chinese Bank.

Anil Ambani virtually appeared before the London High Court where he was grilled for about three hours over his assets, liabilities, expenses and his lifestyle. Responding to the questions, Ambani said that he had to sell his jewellery to pay off the legal fees. He said he had received Rs 9.9 crore for all the personal jewellery he sold from January and June 2020 and now does not own anything. When asked about expensive cars he used, he said the reports of luxury cars were mere media speculations and none of them holds any truth. "I have never owned a Rolls-Royce. At present, I use one car,” he added. 

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Appeal for private hearing rejected

Anil Ambani had earlier appealed for his proceedings to be held privately in order to save the personal embarrassment, was rejected by the court. 

On May 22, 2020, the UK court ordered Ambani to repay the debt of Rs 5,281 crore ($716,917,681) to three Chinese banks by June 12, 2020. As the amount was not paid, the Chinese banks asked for disclosure order on his assets, after which Master Davison on June 29 asked Ambani to serve an affidavit revealing all of his assets across the world exceeding USD 100,000 (around Rs 74 lakh).

The court asked the list of assets that were either in his own name or jointly owned, or he is interested in them legally or beneficially, along with bank statements and credit card statements for the last 24 months.

Ambani said that he had outstanding loans of Rs 500 crore to his mother and Rs 310 crore to his son, Anmol. Ambani said he had loaned the Rs 5 billion to Reliance Innoventures and did not “recall” the terms and conditions of both loans. He also said his 12 million equity shares in Reliance Innoventures were “worthless” and denied having any interest in any trust worldwide, including his family trust.

(Image: PTI)

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