Anil Ambani told the High Court that he lost all of his money in the 2008 financial crash
The brother of India’s richest man has told the High Court in London that he’s broke and unable to pay back a £550million loan.
Anil Ambani, once the sixth richest man in the world and the money behind Oscar winning film Lincoln, claimed his net assets were now ‘zero’.
He is being sued by three state-controlled Chinese banks for the money they loaned his now collapsed company Reliance Communications in 2012.
They insist that he agreed to personally underwrite the debt, something that he disputes.
The 60-year-old from Mumbai inherited his father’s multi-billion pound corporation, Reliance, alongside his older brother Mukesh in 2002.
He was soon investing heavily in the entertainment industry, helping fund Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln as well as projects with Madonna and Tom Hanks.
But while his brother’s share of the family business – oil and petro-chemicals flourished with an estimated fortune of £33bn, his telecom interests collapsed following the 2008 financial crash, wiping 90 per cent off the share price.
Despite having use of a £60m Boeing jet (stock image), a £35m yacht and use of around 11 cars worth about £2m, Mr Ambani is pleading poverty and say he has no way to pay a £550m loan
Three Chinese banks say Mr Ambani (right) personally guaranteed the loans for his now collapsed company Reliance Communications in 2012 and are chasing him for repayment
The Ambani family home in Mumbai is the Antilia Tower (above), said to be worth £2bn. It is a 27-storey building, including three heli-pads, a 168-car garage, ballroom, and 80-seat theatre
In submissions to the court, Mr Ambani claimed: ‘The value of my investments has collapsed. The current value of my shareholdings is down to approximately £63.7m and my net worth is zero after taking into account my liabilities.
‘In summary, I do not hold any meaningful assets which can be liquidated for the purposes of these proceedings.’
But Judge David Waksman gave short shrift to the argument that a man who still owns £35m yacht, a £60m Boeing jet and whose family own a home in Mumbai worth £2bn, was unable to pay up.
He gave the ‘cash-strapped’ tycoon until March 20 to pay £80m before a later court hearing will rule on the outstanding monies.
The ‘cash-strapped’ tycoon, who lives on two floors of a prestigious building in Mumbai (above) has got until March 20 to pay £80m
He said: ‘Mr Ambani has, and continues to have, a very lavish lifestyle. He had at one time the use of a helicopter, but more recently has had the use of a Bombardier Legacy 650 private jet, the use of around 11 cars worth about £2.31m, the use of a yacht and the occupation of two floors of a very large and extremely prestigious building in South Mumbai.’
In May last year, Mr Ambani publicly thanked his elder brother for paying off £60m due to Swedish company Ericsson.
But he told the court that his family is unwilling to help him further, stating that he is ‘unable to raise any finance from external sources.’
Judge Waksman said: ‘What I’m dealing with is an extraordinarily wealthy family … and family members have helped out before and can and will assist.
‘There is a very real and sound basis for concluding, as I do, that it is not possible to take at face value all that [Mr Ambani] says about the extent or otherwise of his own assets including the ones that he has through his beneficially owned companies.
‘There is good reason to suppose that he is not being frank and he is likely to have more assets at his disposal than he has let on.’
The Ambani family home in Mumbai is a 27-storey building, including three heli-pads, a 168-car garage, a ballroom, an 80-seat theater, terrace gardens, a spa, and a temple. Their needs are taken care of by a 600-strong staff.
They own the Mumbai Indians cricket franchise which features some of the game’s biggest stars and have previously been linked with buying Liverpool or West Ham football clubs.
Mr Ambani is married to the former Bollywood star Tina Munim and they have two sons aged 28 and 24 and both named Jai.
Last year when Mr Ambani’s nephew Akash got married, the guest list included Tony and Cherie Blair as well as Indian cricketing god Sachin Tendulkar and Maroon 5 as the entertainment.
The previous year, his niece’s £10m wedding saw Hilary Clinton and Beyonce turn up.
His lawyer told the High Court that the order had no bearings on the many other companies owned by Mr Ambani. These include Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Capital and Reliance Power.
Last year Mr Ambrani’s niece Isha Ambani (pictured with her father Mukesh Ambani worth £33bn) enjoyed a £10m wedding of Bollywood attended by Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas
Also at the star-studded where Beyonce was paid £4.8m to entertain guests was former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (centre) pictured with Mukesh Ambani’s wife Nita (right)
Robert Howe, QC, argued that the court shouldn’t order his client to make a payment he can’t cover and that such an order would ‘hinder his ability to defend himself in the case’.
A statement to MailOnline from the three banks, said: ‘We have always said Mr Ambani’s defence was not credible.
‘We find his latest claims to have no meaningful assets similarly implausible, inconsistent and misleading.
‘This is a straightforward debt claim to recover outstanding loans made to RCom in good faith and secured by a binding personal guarantee given by Mr Ambani which he has refused to honour.’
A spokesman for Mr Ambani said: ‘He is reviewing the order of the UK court and will take legal advice as to further remedies in appeal.
‘The order pertains to an alleged personal liability of Mr Ambani and will have no bearing on the operations of the Reliance Infrastructure Limited, Reliance Power Limited and Reliance Capital Limited.’