CBI Gets Sanction To Prosecute Rana Kapoor In Fraud Case Linked To Anil Ambani Group Firms

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has obtained a sanction to proceed against Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor in a case pertaining to alleged fraudulent transactions between the bank and two Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group companies.

The probe agency recently filed an application before a court for submitting additional documents it is relying on, including the sanction for prosecution against Rana Kapoor, then managing director and chief executive officer of Yes Bank, under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.

The court is scheduled to hear both the defence and the prosecution on December 12 for taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the CBI.

As per the probe agency, the alleged fraudulent transactions involving Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd. (RCFL) and Reliance Home Finance Ltd. (RHFL), Yes Bank, and the firms controlled by Kapoor's family caused a loss of Rs 2,796 crore to the bank.

The charge sheet names Anil Ambani, Rana Kapoor, his wife Bindu Kapoor, daughters Radha Kapoor and Roshni Kapoor, RCFL, RHFL (now Authum Investment and Infrastructure Limited), among others, as accused.

The CBI had registered two cases in 2022 against Rana Kapoor, RCFL and RHFL on a complaint filed by the bank's chief vigilance officer.

The charge sheet alleged that the bank, when Rana Kapoor was at its helm, made investments of Rs 5,010 crore in financial companies of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) Group between 2017 and 2019.

This investment included Rs 2,965 crore in non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of RHFL, and Rs 2,045 crore in commercial papers (CPs) of RCFL.

Of the total amount, Rs 3,337.5 crore turned Non Performing Investment (NPI) by December 2019, it said.

The bank could not recover the entire NPI from the securities against these investments, and suffered a loss of Rs 2,796.77 crore, the charge sheet claimed.

The probe agency alleged that the transactions were a 'quid-pro-quo' arrangement for loans granted by RHFL and RCFL to companies owned by Rana Kapoor's family.