YES Bank co-founder’s bail plea rejected by special PMLA court

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Mumbai: A special Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea filed by Rana Kapoor, YES Bank’s co-founder, former managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), who has been booked for alleged money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Kapoor was arrested by ED on March 8 and produced before the special PMLA court.

Initially, he was remanded to ED custody till March 11 and later sent to judicial custody.

Earlier in March, CBI had registered two cases against Kapoor.

One first information report (FIR) had alleged that the bankrupt YES Bank had invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) between April and June 2018.

In lieu, Kapoor was allegedly paid “kickbacks” to the tune of Rs 600 crore by DHFL promoter, Kapil Wadhawan.

DHFL had 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, the CBI had stated in its FIR.

Kapoor’s three daughters — Rakhee Kapoor Tandon, Roshni Kapoor, and Radha Kapoor — are also 100% shareholders in DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd.

It is on the basis of the CBI case that ED began its probe into allegations of money laundering by Kapoor and subsequently arrested him on March 8.

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 it’s market valuation.

In the past, Thapar had mortgaged the bungalow for a corporate loan of Rs 600 crore, but he sold it for Rs 380 crore to Bliss Abode Pvt Ltd, when Kapoor’s wife was a director of the company.

ED filed a charge sheet against Kapoor, his wife, and three daughters for money laundering on the basis of its investigation.

Kapoor’s lawyers moved bail plea after the charge sheet was filed, pleading that the case was based on documentary evidence that has already been collected by the agency and he is eligible to be released on a personal surety bond, which can be determined by the special PMLA court.

ED, however, argued that the probe is yet to be concluded and that Kapoor could tamper with the evidence and also influence witnesses.

The special PMLA court saw merit in ED’s argument and rejected his bail plea.