Rana in custody till March 11 as CBI probe is on
Yes Bank faces criminal inquiry
A court on Sunday remanded Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor to the Enforcement Directorate’s custody till March 11 after he was arrested on money-laundering charges in the early hours of Sunday.
The ED, which had summoned Kapoor to its office on Saturday afternoon after raids at his and his daughters’ residences in Mumbai and Delhi, arrested him following several hours of interrogation.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has, meanwhile, begun a probe into Yes Bank’s affairs as officials started collecting documents on the matter, sources said Sunday. They said the officials have refused to comment on the development as the CBI wants complete secrecy before
any search that it might be planning.
The sources refused to elaborate on the nature of the probe — preliminary enquiry or an FIR — or people arraigned, but affirmed that a formal investigation had begun. The CBI is looking into aspects of alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption, they said.
An ED report quoting sources said investments worth over `2,000 crores, 44 expensive paintings and a dozen alleged shell firms are at the heart of the ED’s probe against Kapoor.
The agency has also recovered documents that show some assets of the Kapoor family in ■
London and the source of funds for their acquisition is being probed.
Kapoor, 62, was produced in a holiday court in Mumbai after a case of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was registered against him. Sunil Gonsalves, representing the ED, said at the hour-long hearing that the total proceeds of the alleged crime amounted to `4,300 crores, and that Kapoor had refused to cooperate with the investigation. Kapoor denied this. “I want to cooperate with them,” he told the court through tears. “I’m willing to cooperate day and night despite the fact that I haven’t slept a wink,” he said. Zain Shroff, Kapoor’s lawyer, told the court his client had been made “a scapegoat” due to the public outrage against Yes Bank after the Reserve Bank of India placed it under a moratorium and superseded its board on Thursday.
In the court the ED’s lawyer alleged that Yes Bank had bought `3,700 crores worth debentures of Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), which had granted a Rs 600-crore loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, owned by Kapoor’s three daughters.
The lawyer said the agency believes the loan to DoIT was a kickback for Yes Bank subscribing to DHFL’s debentures. Kapoor and his lawyers said the debentures were AAA-rated and DoIT is servicing the debt on time.