India’s Yes Bank founder arrested, accused of money laundering
Enforcement Directorate arrested Rana Kapoor, the founder of crisis-hit Yes Bank, after two days of questioning in an alleged bank scam.
Kapoor was taken to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Mumbai for questioning on Saturday, NDTV reported.
Earlier, the probe agency conducted raids at his house at Samudra Mahal residential tower in Mumbai and filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against him.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has capped transactions for every Yes Bank user at Rs 50,000 for a month, till April 3, after the private bank couldn’t service its debts following defaults by big firms to whom it had loaned large sums.
In a late-night tweet on Saturday, Yes Bank said its customers can now withdraw money from ATMs. “You can now make withdrawals using your YES BANK Debit Card both at YES BANK and other bank ATMs. Thanks for your patience,” the private lender tweeted.
Yes Bank customers have been facing a tough time in accessing internet banking, using payment via UPI and withdrawing from ATMs after the RBI’s sudden announcement to curb withdrawals led to a scramble to take out money.
Current account holders have complained of severe problems to service their debts and pay salaries, especially when the spring festival of Holi is just two days away.
The case against Kapoor is linked to the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) as the loans given by the bank to the company allegedly turned sour, investigators have said. A Rs 600-crore worth loan given by DHFL to an entity is also at the centre of the probe, they added.
The ED is probing the Yes Bank founder’s alleged role in giving loans to some firms and alleged kickbacks received in his wife’s accounts, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Other alleged irregularities are also under the agency’s scanner, including one related to an alleged Employees Provident Fund fraud (EPF) in the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd.
The CBI recently took over investigation into the Rs 2,267-crore EPF fraud in Uttar Pradesh, where hard-earned savings of power sector employees were invested in DHFL.
Banking behemoth State Bank of India (SBI) has said it has time till tomorrow to take a call on taking 49 per cent stake in Yes Bank.
