LONDON: Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani told a UK court that he needs are not “vast” and he lives a “very disciplined” lifestyle and that suggestions of his lavish tastes are speculative. Ambani was providing evidence in a dispute involving a loan agreement with three Chinese banks.
India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani’s estranged brother said that his expenses are being borne by wife and family and he has even taken a loan from his son. The 61-year-old former billionaire, once the sixth-richest person in the world, told the London court, “My needs are not vast and my lifestyle is very disciplined.”
Asked about his fleet of luxury cars and other references to his lavish lifestyle, he dismissed them as “speculative” media stories. “I have never owned a Rolls-Royce. At present, I use one car,” he said.
“Mr Anil Ambani has always been a simple man of simple tastes, contrary to exaggerated perceptions of his flamboyance and lavish lifestyle,” said a spokesperson for Anil Ambani. “He is devoted to his family and company, an avid marathon runner, and deeply spiritual. He is also a lifelong vegetarian, teetotaller and non-smoker who would much rather watch a movie at home with his kids than go out on the town. Reports that suggest otherwise are completely misleading,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, according to a TOI report on Monday, three Chinese banks – the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Export-Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank – are all set to initiate fresh enforcement action against Anil Ambani’s worldwide assets to recover debts to the tune of $716 million or nearly Rs 5,300 crore.
It may be recalled that Anil Ambani was ordered by a UK court on May 22 this year to pay Rs 5,276 crore including interest of Rs 7.04 crore in legal costs to the three banks. By June 29, Ambani’s debt to these banks including accrued interest had risen to $717.6 million. At a hearing in the case earlier in the year, a UK judge had ruled that he did not accept Ambani’s defence that his net worth was nearly zero or that his family would not step in to assist him when “push came to shove”.
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