Rana Kapoor handled affairs of 78 shell companies: ED

New Delhi/Mumbai, March 12 (IANS) Arrested Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, who along with his family members owned 78 shell companies, was the one who handled and controlled the affairs of these companies, Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials said.

Rana Kapoor, who was arrested early on March 8 was further sent to ED custody till March 16 by a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here in connection with the case.

A senior ED official related to the probe in Mumbai told IANS, "During investigation it was found that 78 shell companies were owned by the family of Kapoor, including his wife Bindu and three daughters -- Roshini Kapoor, Raakhee Kapoor Tandon and Radha Kapoor Khanna."

The official said that Rana Kapoor was the person who "controlled and managed" the affairs of these 78 companies.

A senior investigative agency official related to the probe in Delhi said that Kapoor's wife Bindu Kapoor was director in at least 42 companies, many of them investment companies, out of which some of them have been named in the FIR registered by the CBI for receiving kickbacks to the tune of Rs 600 crore from DHFL as a builder loan.

The official claimed that Bindu was a director in the main investment and holding companies associated with Kapoor, including Morgan Credits, Yes Capital (India), DoIt umbrella companies, RAB among others.

The majority of these companies are realty nomenclatured like Bliss, Imagine, Mantra where the suspicion is that the money was siphoned off into realty ventures. In Delhi alone, Rana Kapoor had three bungalows.

Meanwhile, Roshini Kapoor is the director of Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd and Doit Urban Ventures, Raakhee Kapoor Tandon is also the director of Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd and Radha Kapoor Khanna is the director of Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd and Doit Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd.

The ED official further said that during investigation, the amount of the loans sanctioned by Yes Bank was found to have gone up from Rs 4,300 crore to Rs 30,000 crore.

"Of the Rs 30,000 crore, Rs 20,000 was turned into non-performing assets (NPAs). The flow of transaction needs to be probed in detail. How has the money been siphoned off? The ED is calling key management persons to be confronted with Kapoor," the ED official said.

He also claimed Kapoor has not been cooperating in the investigation and as yet he has not disclosed the proceeds of the crime.

The ED has questioned Yes Bank chief Ravneet Gill for two days in the case and asked him questions about the amount of loans shooting up. The officer further said that the agency is going to summon other former Directors and corporates who got loans from the Yes Bank or whose loans were restructured by the bank.

The CBI began a probe into short-term debentures of the DHFL in which Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore from April to June 2018. The probe is part of another investigation pertaining to Yes Bank's purchase of debentures from DHFL against which the company was granted loans totalling Rs 600 crore against a collateral security of around Rs 40 crore only.

The loan amount later turned into non-performing asset.

It was alleged that DHFL's promoter Kapil Wadhawan simultaneously paid kickbacks totalling Rs 600 crore to the Kapoors in the form of a loan of a similar amount to DoIT Urban Ventures, a venture owned by Rana Kapoor's daughters -- Rakhee Kapoor Tandon, Roshni Kapoor and Radha Kapoor.

It was also alleged that Yes Bank did not initiate action to recover the loans extended to DHFL.

The ED also registered a case of money laundering on the basis of the CBI FIR and arrested Rana Kapoor on Sunday morning. One of his daughters was stopped from boarding a flight to London by Immigration Department officials at Mumbai airport.

In her statement to ED, Radha Kapoor stated that in addition to the property mortgaged, she had also given her personal guarantee to DHFL and that the primary basis of personal guarantee was her 33.3 per cent shareholding in Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd and value of her unlisted businesses held under Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd.

However, in 2019, she had sold all the shares and amounts were used for repayment of debt borrowing of mutual funds and subsequently, Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd owns nil shareholding in Yes Bank, she said.

The ED also claimed that the shareholders of DUVPL (three daughters of Kapoor) appear to have never interacted with DHFL personnel and it was Lata Dave, secretary of Kapoor in Yes Bank at that time, who used to interact with DHFL in connection with the loan.