Criminal breach of trust case against ex-Yes Bank CEO Rana Kapoor, others

Mumbai Police have registered an FIR against former Yes Bank managing director and CEO Rana Kapoor, senior bank official Sudhir Walia and others over the alleged illegal transfer of mortgaged properties worth around Rs 1,000 crore linked to HDIL group entities, an official said on Friday, 15 May.

The case was registered at Worli police station on a complaint filed by Lakhminder Dayal Singh, associated with Saffair Land Development, a sister concern of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL).

According to the FIR, another HDIL group company, Privilege Power and Infrastructure, had availed a loan of Rs 300 crore from the Worli branch of Yes Bank in 2015. Subsequently, Saffair Land Development sought a loan of Rs 150 crore due to financial difficulties, which was sanctioned by the bank in 2016.

To secure the loan, properties belonging to HDIL and its group companies, collectively valued at around Rs 1,000 crore, were mortgaged with the bank. The repayment period for the loan was fixed at 36 months.

However, Singh alleged that in June 2018, before the repayment tenure had expired, Yes Bank authorised Suraksha Asset Reconstruction Pvt Ltd to recover Rs 176.53 crore from his company.

The complainant claimed that the mortgaged properties were illegally transferred to Suraksha ARC even though the loan account had not been classified as a Non-Performing Asset (NPA). He cited findings from a 2019 special audit report in support of the allegation. Singh further alleged that the properties were subsequently sold at prices below prevailing market rates.

The complaint also accused Yes Bank officials of routing Rs 22.5 crore as margin money to Suraksha ARC through multiple accounts as part of an alleged conspiracy to take control of the mortgaged assets.

Based on the complaint, police registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 409 for criminal breach of trust and Section 120B for criminal conspiracy, the official said. No arrests have been made so far and further investigation is underway, police added.

With PTI inputs