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YES Bank case: ED summons Anil Ambani; other borrowers to be called for questioning soon

Ambani’s group companies are stated to have taken loans of about Rs 12,800 crore from the bank that turned NPA.

YES Bank case: ED summons Anil Ambani; other borrowers to be called for questioning soon

Anil Ambani. (File Photo: IANS)

Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani has been summoned by the ED in connection with its money laundering probe against YES Bank promoter Rana Kapoor and others.

Ambani has been asked to depose at the Enforcement Directorate office in Mumbai on Monday as his group companies are one among the big entities whose loans went bad after borrowing from the crisis-hit bank.

It is understood that Ambani has sought exemption on health grounds from the agency and he may be issued a new date. Ambani’s group companies are stated to have taken loans of about Rs 12,800 crore from the bank that turned NPA.

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Officials said promoters of all the big companies who had taken large loans from the beleaguered bank which later turned bad, are being summoned for questioning in the case to take the investigation forward.

Ambani’s statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) upon deposition, they said.

Meanwhile, as the YES Bank probe gathers momentum, the ED has now decided to summon all the large borrowers who were given loans by the Rana Kapoor-led management.

An ED official said that the agency was looking into all the big borrowers of the bank and the stressed loans sanctioned during the tenure of Rana Kapoor.

On the list to be summoned are entities like Essel Group, Vodafone Idea, IL&FS, Dewan Housing, Jet Airways, Cox & Kings, CG Power among others.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in a March 6 press conference that the Anil Ambani Group, Essel, ILFS, DHFL and Vodafone were among the stressed corporates YES Bank had exposure to.

Reliance Group had last week said that it had no direct or indirect exposure to the Kapoor family. “The entire exposure to Yes Bank is fully secured and is transacted in the ordinary course of business, and we are committed to honour our repayments to Yes Bank,” said the company.

The ED official further added that most of the big borrowers have defaulted and the loans have turned into bad debts. “The management and promoters will be examined and questioned in the coming weeks,” said the official.

Kapoor, 62, is at present in ED custody after he was arrested by the central probe agency early this month.

The ED has accused Rana, his family members and others of laundering “proceeds of crime” worth Rs 4,300 crore by receiving alleged kickbacks in lieu of extending big loans through their bank that later turned NPA.

(With agency inputs)

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