File image of Punit Garg. File.
| Photo Credit: Vivek Bendre
The Enforcement Directorate’s Special Task Force has arrested Punit Garg, a former director of Reliance Communications Limited (RCom) in connection with over ₹40,000-crore alleged bank fraud and money-laundering charge, it said on Friday (January 30, 2026).
The arrest was made on Thursday (January 29, 2026) as part of the ED probe with respect to a First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The agency produced him before a special Delhi court that sent him to its remand for nine days.
According to the ED, Mr. Garg served as president of RCom, handling its global enterprise business from 2006 to 2013. Thereafter, he served as president (regulatory affairs) from 2014 to 2017. In October 2017, he was appointed as executive director and from April 2019 till April 2025, he served as non-executive director of RCom.
The ED alleged that Mr. Garg was actively involved in the acquisition, possession, concealment, layering, and dissipation of “proceeds of crime”, diverted through multiple foreign subsidiaries and offshore entities of RCom.
“In particular, it was found that Proceeds of Crime were diverted for the purchase of a luxury condominium apartment in Manhattan, New York (USA). This property was sold during the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of RCom fraudulently by Punit 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 ED alleged.
The funds in question were also allegedly diverted for Mr. Garg’s personal expenses, including overseas education-related expenses of his children, said the agency.
Published – January 30, 2026 10:44 pm IST
