Special court allows CBI to question Rana Kapoor in a fresh case

Former Yes Bank CEO Rana Kapoor has been granted permission by a special court in Mumbai to be interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a loan fraud case involving Cox & Kings Group firm Ezeego One Tours and Travels. The CBI has alleged that Kapoor abused his position to sanction a loan of INR946.44 crore ($127.7 million) to the company. Kapoor was recently granted bail in a separate money laundering case involving Dewan Housing Finance Corporation.

MUMBAI: Eight days after he was granted bail in the money laundering case involving Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL), a special court on Thursday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to interrogate former Yes Bank managing director and chief executive officer Rana Kapoor in connection with a loan fraud of ₹946.44 crore involving a Cox & Kings Group firm, Ezeego One Tours and Travels Ltd (EOTTL).

HT Image

Special judge BD Shelke has allowed CBI inspector Sarvajeet Mor and other CBI staff to question Kapoor in Taloja Jail, Navi Mumbai where he is lodged at present in another CBI case. The court has also allowed Kapoor to have a conference with his lawyer before the CBI team questions Kapoor and records his statement.

CBI registered the case on October 19, 2020, based on a complaint lodged by Ashish Joshi, then chief vigilance officer of the Yes Bank, who alleged that EOTTL and its promoters Ajay Ajit Peter Kerkar and Urshila Kerkar and directors had caused the bank loss of over ₹946.44 crores.

According to his complaint, Yes Bank had started a relationship with EOTTL in 2017 by sanctioning credit facilities of ₹650 crores -- a term loan of ₹500 crore and factoring of ₹150 crores. The facilities were enhanced to ₹1,015 crores by September 2018.

Recently, Mor applied to the special CBI court, claiming that the agency has found Rana Kapoor’s involvement in the loan fraud and has as such obtained sanction from the Competent Authority of Yes Bank to probe him in the loan fraud case.

He claimed that the probe revealed that due to Rana Kapoor’s initiative, Yes Bank officers were persuaded to sanction a loan of ₹1,050 cores to the firm.

“Rana Kapoor abused his official position and directed that STL (short-term loan) of ₹350 crores may be sanctioned and disbursed to M/s EOTTL without any additional security,” CBI had said in its plea. “He kept on increasing the sanction of funds to M/s EOTTL despite the fact that it was a start-up and there were visible signs of financial stress in the entire CKL (Cox & Kings Ltd) Group. And therefore, Rana Kapoor is required to be examined with regard to sanction of loans to the tune of ₹1,050 crores,” it added.

After hearing the CBI counsel and the investigating officer of the case, the special court accepted the plea and allowed the central agency to interrogate Rana Kapoor in Taloja jail.

The order came eight days after a special PMLA court granted Kapoor bail in the money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the loan fraud case involving Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL).

The money laundering case was based on another CBI case registered in March 2020, alleging that Rana Kapoor extended financial assistance to DHFL to get substantial undue benefits for himself and his family members.

According to ED, Yes Bank had between April and June 2018, invested ₹3,700 crore in DHFL’s short-term debentures and subsequently also sanctioned a loan of ₹750 crore to a DHFL subsidiary. In return, DHFL gave Kapoor ₹600 crore in kickbacks in the form of a loan to Do It Urban Ventures Pvt. Ltd, a firm controlled by Rana Kapoor, his wife and daughters.

Kapoor is incarcerated in the CBI case involving DHFL.