YES Bank row: ED attaches properties worth Rs 2,800 crore

Rana Kapoor, the founder and former Managing Director of Yes Bank, was arrested in March on money-laundering charges. Kapoor’s properties worth Rs 2,800 crore were attached by The Enforcement Directorate (ED), said the agency in a statement.

These include property worth Rs 1,400 crore belonging to Rana Kapoor and his family and that worth Rs 1,411 crore belonging to Dheeraj and Kapil Wadhawan of the Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL).

ED is probing Kapoor’s alleged use of the bank to extend loans in exchange for kickbacks detailed in a charge sheet filed on May 6.

The Central Bureau of Investigation in March booked Kapoor in connection with Yes Bank’s 3,700 crore investment in short-term debentures of DHFL. Kapoor is alleged to have been paid kickbacks of Rs 600 crore in return.

Kapoor is lodged in a Mumbai jail and his lawyer, Subhash Jadhav, declined comment on the property attachment. Wadhawans too are lodged in a Mumbai jail. The prime properties of the Kapoors attached include a sprawling bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi with a market value of Rs 685 crore. Two flats of the Wadhawans in London, one in New York and commercial property in Australia were also attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

“The present market value of these assets is more than Rs 2,800 crore and includes immovable properties in India and abroad, bank accounts, investments, luxury vehicles etc. These assets belong to Rana Kapoor, Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan and the entities controlled by them,” the ED statement said.

On July 7 reported that ED action was imminent. ED officials had indicated on condition of anonymity that Central London properties linked to Kapoor as well as his fixed deposits worth around Rs 50 crore were also likely to be attached. An official said this London property will be attached soon.

In a charge sheet filed in May, ED put the proceeds of the crime at Rs 5050 crore, and said the Kapoors used a complex web of at least 100 shell companies to channel this money. Loans worth around Rs 30,000 crore given when Kapoor was in charge of the bank have turned into bad loans, with those worth Rs 20,000 crore becoming non performing assets, ED’s charge sheet said.