My net worth is now zero: Anil Ambani

Mumbai : Anil Ambani, brother of Asia's richest man, has been ordered to put aside $100 million in his dispute with three Chinese banks.

"The value of my investments has collapsed," Anil Ambani said, according to a London court filing by banks seeking around $700 million in defaulted loans. "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."

The case against Anil Ambani was filed by three state-controlled Chinese banks which argued that they had provided a loan of million to Ambani's Reliance Communications Ltd. in 2012 with the condition that he personally guarantee the debt.

On Friday evening, Judge David Waksman ordered Ambani to put up $100 million into the court's account within six weeks.

Ambani on the other hand has claimed that while he agreed to give a non-binding "personal comfort letter," he never gave a guarantee tied to his personal assets -- an "extraordinary potential personal liability."

Anil has "clearly got more assets and income than he's letting on," the judge said. "What I'm dealing with is an extraordinarily wealthy family who has helped each other in the past." Waksman said he didn't believe that Ambani's family "have firmly and irrevocably brought the shutters down."

"Ambani is reviewing the order of the U.K court and will take legal advice as to further remedies in appeal," representatives for Ambani's Reliance Group said.