Yes Bank Crisis: ED Registers Case Under Prevention Of Money Laundering Act, Raids Director Rana Kapoor's Mumbai Residence

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided the Mumbai residence of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the crisis-hit bank. "Yes, the agency registered a case of money laundering in the Yes Bank matter," a senior ED official was quoted as saying by IANS. The raid is being carried out at Kapoor’s Samudra Mahal residence in the western metropolis. The action is being conducted to collect more evidence, the official added.

The central agency is probing Kapoor's role in connection with the disbursal of a loan to a corporate entity and the subsequent alleged kickbacks that were reportedly received in his wife's accounts. Some other alleged irregularities are also under the agency's scanner, they added.

The State Bank of India (SBI) board has given an "in-principle" approval to invest in the capital-starved Yes Bank, according to PTI. The report said that the central board of SBI discussed the matter at a meeting on Thursday. The announcement came hours after Yes Bank was placed under a moratorium. The RBI superseded the Yes Bank board and capped deposit withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month for customers. Meanwhile, Yes Bank shares were down by over 25 per cent in opening trade on Friday.

Long queue outside Yes Bank ATMs

Yes Bank depositors have been lining up outside ATMs across the country ever since the announcement. However, many faced problems including closed down machines and long queues. The problems were aggravated with difficulty in accessing the internet banking channel and app as depositers were not able to transfer funds online as well.

"The matter in regard to Yes Bank was discussed at the meeting of the central board of bank on Thursday and an in-principle approval has been given by the board to explore investment opportunity in the bank," the SBI board informed the bourses late in the evening.

Under the moratorium, Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment. The Reserve Bank of India assured Yes Bank depositors that their interest will be fully protected and that there is no need to panic.

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There is no provision to handle insolvencies of commercial banks, and the raft of actions come even as the government is working on the FRDI (financial resolution and deposit insurance) Bill. The actions come hours after reports of the government directing a consortium of largest lender SBI and life insurance behemoth LIC to bail out the bank emerged.

For the next month, Yes Bank will led by the RBI-appointed administrator Prashant Kumar, an ex-chief financial officer of SBI.

With PTI Inputs