ED lens on 46 firms controlled by Rana Kapoor and his family

Multiple companies are under the Enforcement Directorate’s scanner as it expands its probe into 46 entities allegedly controlled by Rana Kapoor, the co-founder of YES Bank and its MD and CEO till January 31, 2019, and his family. An amount of ₹4,300 crore is said to have been diverted to these entities, according to ED sources.

Former YES Bank CEO Ravneet Gill is also under the ED scanner.

BW Businessworld Media, AW FIS Space Solutions, Indian School of Management and Entrepreneurship, Art Capital Advisory, Art India Foundation, Goa-based DOIT Resort and Indian School of K-12 Education are among the companies under the ED’s lens.

Real estate giant Indiabulls is also under the ED lens because of the similar nature of transactions.

“A can of worms opened up when the ED was investigating the YES Bank loan of ₹3,600 crore to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) and it was realised that Rana’s wife and daughter have been given ₹600 crore in their companies by DHFL against a collateral of ₹10-crore worth properties shown in Alibaug (an island off Mumbai's coast) which were falsely valued at ₹300-400 crore,” according to an official in ED.

Another property at 40, Amrita Shergill Marg in Central Delhi, which was purchased by his wife, Bindu, from Lalit Thapar of Advent India has also come under the scanner.

“Lalit Thapar sold his property to Bindu Kapoor in lieu of a ₹500-crore loan he had taken from YES Bank which had turned into a non-performing asset,” said the ED official. “It has to be seen so as to what are the links between Indiabulls and YES Bank now,” the official said.

CBI files FIR

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation has booked Rana Kapoor, his immediate kin, and Kapil Wadhwan, Promoter-Director of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited, charging them with corruption and fund diversion.

CBI’s FIR names Kapoor, his wife, and their daughters Roshini Kapoor, Raakhe Kapoor Tandon and Radha Kapoor Khanna. The CBI alleges that Kapoor and Wadhawan entered into a criminal conspiracy for extending financial assistance to DHFL by YES Bank Ltd. The Kapoors gained substantial undue benefit through the companies held by them because of this partnership, the CBI said.

On Monday, CBI conducted searches across seven locations in Mumbai in connection with this case. The offices of DHFL, DOIT Urban Ventures, RKW Developers and residences of Rana Kapoor, Kapil Wadhawan, Raakhe Kapoor Tandon and Radha Kapoor Khanna were searched by the agency. The investigative agency also issued look-out notices against the accused, preventing them from leaving the country.

(Inputs from Mumbai Bureau)