World

Anil Ambani: Man who was once a billionaire confesses he's now poor, begs banks

Saturday, February 15, 2020 at 12:48 PM by Joseph Omotayo

- Anil Ambani, a former billionaire, has pleaded poverty in court and said none of his assets is valuable

- A court has said that he should put aside $100 million (N36,350,000,000) for the dispute he has with three banks

- The banks are challenging him based on the $925 million (N336,237,500,000) loans they gave to his company, Ambani's Reliance Communication Ltd

A one-time billionaire and the brother of Asia's richest man, Anil Ambani, has been asked by the court to set aside $100 million (N36,350,000,000) in his dispute as three Chinese banks launch a lawsuit against him.

The man has, however, pleaded poverty, saying his net worth is nothing. In a plea to the court, he said that “the value of his investments has collapsed”.

He said he does not have any valuable assets which can be traded off for money.

According to Bloomberg, the banks filed a lawsuit against Ambani on the defaulted loan of $925 million (N336,237,500,000) they gave to his company, Ambani’s Reliance Communications Ltd.

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The man said he would appeal the court's order and never promised the banks' loan will be tied to his assets. Photo source: Bloomberg
Source: UGC

The order that he should set an amount into the court’s account was given by Judge David Waksman, one that Anil said he would appeal.

The formerly wealthy man said he never gave the banks a debt guarantee connected to his assets as prayed by the financial institution.

Ambani’s lawyer, Robert Howe, has said that the court should not put on his client the financial burden he cannot shoulder.

The lawyer representing Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China, Bankim Thanki, said that Ambani’s plea is a way to escape obligations.

It should be noted that the relationship between Ambani and his brother, Mukesh Ambani, has been rocky since the death of their father who left behind an empire that was split between them.

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In other news, Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, is now worth $128.9 billion (N46,597,350,000,000), cementing his position as the world's richest person after Amazon delivered strong holiday sales.