Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor remanded to ED custody in fresh money laundering case

Mumbai: Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor on Wednesday (January 27) was remanded to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till January 30.  The Central probe agency has arrested Kapoor in a fresh money laundering case of over Rs 200 crore.

The 63-year-old Kapoor is in jail under judicial custody since March last year after being arrested by the ED in a case pertaining to sanctioning loans to certain firms allegedly against kickbacks.

The ED sought his custody after formally placing him under arrest in Mumbai on Wednesday in the new case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Notably, the fresh case has been registered against Rana is in relation to Mauritius-based joint venture company Macstar, a sister concern of HDIL (Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd).

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The Central probe agency told the special PMLA court that HDIL promoters, Sarang and Rakesh Wadhawan, who had a minority stake in Macstar, mortgaged property of the company and obtained a loan of Rs 203 crore from Yes Bank.

According to ED counsel Hiten Venegaokar, after the loan was sanctioned and credited into the account of Macstar, it was siphoned off and transferred into the HDIL account.

The amount was later used for payment of certain loans which the Wadhawan had taken from Yes Bank, Venegaokar told the court. Accepting ED submissions, special court judge A A Nandgaonkar remanded Kapoor in the central agency's custody till January 30.

This is the second time Kapoor has been arrested in less than 10 months. HDIL's Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, who are also prime accused in the PMC Bank scam, held a stake in Mack Star which is under the ED scanner for Rs 200 crore loan given by Yes Bank for renovating its premises.

In that case, with its tentacles spreading to the Viva Group of Palghar, the ED had arrested Mehul Thakur and another director Madan Chaturvedi, who are also in its custody till January 30.

In previous cases, among other things, the central probe agency is investigating Rs 600 crore received by a company allegedly controlled by Kapoor, his wife, and three daughters from an entity linked to the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL).

Kapoor and his family members allegedly got benefits worth Rs 4,300 crore through the companies controlled by them as kickbacks for sanctioning huge loans, the ED has alleged.

Kapoor is also accused of receiving bribes for going easy on the recovery of loans given to some big corporate groups, which had turned into non-performing assets (NPAs), when he headed the lender. The Bombay High Court on Monday rejected his bail plea.

(With Agency Inputs)