CBI chargesheets Anil Ambani, Rana Kapoor in ₹2,796-cr corruption case
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday submitted chargesheets in two cases connected with bogus transactions between Anil Ambani group companies — Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL) and Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) — and Yes Bank, as well as entities belonging to the Rana Kapoor family, then Managing Director and CEO of Yes Bank.
The CBI said as per its investigation, the investigation has revealed a conspiracy where Rana Kapoor misused his position to funnel huge public funds of Yes Bank into financially strained firms of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) Group. As a quid pro quo, ADA Group is believed to have provided concessional loans and investments in firms owned by Kapoor’s wife, Bindu Kapoor, and daughters, Radha and Roshni Kapoor.
The chargesheets, presented before a qualified Mumbai court, explain how Yes Bank had invested nearly Rs 2,045 crore in RCFL’s non-convertible debentures and commercial obligations and Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL’s instruments during 2017. This came at a time when rating agency CARE had put ADA Group’s financial companies “under watch” because of their weakening financial health. Investigators allege that the money was subsequently diverted through layers, showing systematic diversion of public funds.
As a quid pro quo, the businesses owned by Anil Ambani approved credit facilities at concessional interest rates to loss-making entities owned by the Kapoor family.
This spurious arrangement is stated to have resulted in wrongful losses of Rs 2,796.77 crore to Yes Bank and unlawful gains for ADA Group and businesses owned by the Kapoor family.
The investigation also showed that Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund, another Reliance Capital Ltd subsidiary, invested Rs 1,160 crore in debentures issued by non-convertible Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd, a Kapoor family-owned firm.
It also bought ADA Group debentures of Rs 249.80 crore from Yes Bank and invested Rs 1,750 crore in unsecured AT1 bonds of Yes Bank — high-risk debt securities that have the lowest priority to liquidate.
The CBI chargesheets include Anil Ambani, Rana Kapoor, Bindu Kapoor, Radha Kapoor, Roshni Kapoor, RCFL, RHFL (currently Authum Investment & Infrastructure Ltd), and various family-owned companies like
RAB Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Imagine Estate Pvt Ltd, Bliss House Pvt Ltd, Imagine Habitat Pvt Ltd, Imagine Residence Pvt Ltd, and Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd.
They are charged under different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.
The CBI added the transactions were a part of a bigger conspiracy between ADA Group and the Kapoor family that not only led to gigantic losses for Yes Bank but also posed serious issues regarding misuse of public funds and regulatory lapses.
