New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has questioned Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor as part of its money laundering probe against Reliance Anil Ambani group companies. They said Kapoor's statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The 68-year-old Kapoor had earlier been arrested and questioned by the ED in separate money laundering cases related to alleged illegal disbursement of loans by the bank.
ED officials said they suspect a 'quid pro quo' between Kapoor and Ambani in the case. There was no immediate comment from Kapoor or his lawyers on the ED's questioning and the related charges. According to officials, as of March 31, 2017, Yes Bank had an investment of about Rs 6,000 crore in the Reliance Anil Ambani Group and this figure had doubled to Rs 13,000 crore within a year (as of March 31, 2018).
The companies under investigation are Reliance Home Finance Limited and Reliance Commercial Finance Limited. The officials alleged that a large part of these investments turned into non-performing investments and as a result, the bank suffered a loss of Rs 3,300 crore from these deals.
They alleged that these were not normal business transactions but were in ‘quid pro quo’ in return for investments by Yes Bank. They said that the ADAG companies had ‘sanctioned’ loans to firms controlled by the Kapoor family.
The ED suspects that the two businessmen had held private meetings regarding these deals. The probe relates to the period 2017-2019, when Yes Bank allegedly invested Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and Rs 2,045 crore in Reliance Commercial Finance Limited. According to the ED, the dues for RHFL were Rs 1,353.5 crore and for Reliance Commercial Finance Limited Rs 1,984 crore and the probe found that both the companies had received public funds worth over Rs 11,000 crore. The 66-year-old Ambani has been questioned by the ED in the past in connection with alleged bank loan ‘irregularities’ of his group companies. Reliance group companies have repeatedly said that Ambani is not involved in the day-to-day management of the group. The ED has recently attached assets worth Rs 1,120 crore belonging to some companies of the Anil Ambani group.