Anil Ambani said on Friday that he lives a simple life and doesn’t own anything meaningful. Anil, the brother of Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, was being cross examined by a UK court in a loan repayment case filed by three Chinese banks.
According to reports, Anil, who appeared via video conference, told the court that he drives only one car and paid his legal fees by selling all his jewellery, which fetched him Rs 9.9 crore between January and June 2020. He now owns ‘nothing meaningful’, he reportedly said.
"My expenses are minimal and being borne by wife and family. I don't have a lavish lifestyle and no other income. I met legal expense by sale of jewellery and, if I have to meet further expenses, (it) will be subject to approval by the court to dispose of other assets,” Times of India quotes Anil as saying.
A statement issued by his spokesperson post the hearing also said that Anil has always been a ‘simple man of simple tastes’, unlike the perception of him living a lavish and flamboyant lifestyle.
Anil was the sixth richest man in 2008, according to Forbes, with a wealth of $42 billion.
Three Chinese banks -- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd Mumbai Branch, China Development Bank and Exim Bank of China -- sued Anil Ambani for a $700 million loan that his company Reliance Communications took from them in 2012 for which Anil provided personal guarantee. Rcom defaulted on these loans and is also now undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.
In May, the Commercial Division of the High Court in London directed Anil to honour the guarantee and was ordered to pay Rs 5,281 crore in debt and Rs7 crore in legal costs to the three Chinese banks before June 12. On failing to pay this, he was ordered to declare his worldwide assets through an affidavit.
On Friday, when the UK court questioned Ambani about his fleet of luxury cars, he said that he uses only one car at present and that he never owned a Rolls-Royce and dismissed media speculations.
He further added that he owes his mother Rs 500 crore and his son Anmol Rs 310 crore. The “Tina and Anil Ambani collection” is his wife’s art collection not his.
When the counsel representing the Chinese banks asked him about the ‘the Tina and Anil Ambani collection’, he reportedly said that it belongs to his wife and that his name is on it just because he happens to be her husband. He said that he only owned a piece of artwork worth $110,000.
He also declared to the court that he received no professional fees from Reliance Infrastructure in 2019 and 2020 because of the company’s financial crunch.
He declared electrical expenses of Rs 60.6 lakh over eight months at his home in South Mumbai.
He was also questioned about his private helicopter and a luxury motor yacht that he gifted to his wife. He denied using both and said that he doesn’t pay for the helicopter unless its for personal use.
While the counsel told Anil during the cross examination that he wasn’t giving honest evidence, the three banks said in a statement post the hearing that they will use this information to pursue ‘all available legal avenues to protect their rights and recover the outstanding loans owed to them’.