Yes Bank fraud: PMLA court rejects Rana Kapoor’s bail plea

A special Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea filed by Rana Kapoor, Yes bank founder, former chairman and managing director,

A special Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea filed by Rana Kapoor, Yes bank founder, former chairman and managing director, who has been booked for alleged money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

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ED arrested Kapoor on March 8 and produced him before the special PMLA court. He was remanded in ED custody till March 11 and later sent to judicial custody.

Kapoor’s advocates had pleaded that investigation in the case has been completed as a charge sheet was filed against him. They further pleaded that the case was based on documentary evidence which has already been collected by the agency, and hence there was no harm in granting him bail.

ED, however, argued that the probe had not concluded and that Kapoor could tamper with the evidence and influence witnesses. The special court, after hearing both the sides, rejected the bail plea.

ED had initiated a probe into allegations of money laundering after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered two cases of corruption against Kapoor in March. In one first information report (FIR), the bureau alleged that Yes Bank had invested ₹3,700 crore in short-term debentures of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) between April and June 2018. In return, Kapoor was allegedly paid ‘kickbacks’ amounting to ₹600 crore by DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan. DHFL sanctioned a loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RAB Enterprises in which Kapoor’s wife Bindu is a director and 100% shareholder, alleged CBI. Kapoor’s daughters, Rakhee Kapoor Tandon, Roshni Kapoor, and Radha Kapoor, are also 100% shareholders in DoIT Urban Ventures. Based on the case registered by CBI, ED began its probe into allegations of money laundering by Kapoor.

In the second case, CBI alleged that Kapoor and his wife bought a bungalow from Avantha Group promoter Gautam Thapar at a much lower price than its valuation. In the past, Thapar had mortgaged the bungalow for a corporate loan of ₹600 crore, but he sold it for ₹380 crore to Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd in which Kapoor’s wife was a director at the time.

After the probe, ED filed a charge sheet against Kapoor, his wife, and their three daughters for money laundering. After the charge sheet was filed, Kapoor’s lawyers moved a bail plea on the merits of the case.