Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani was on Monday summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and asked to appear before it in connection with its money laundering probe against Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor and others.
However, Ambani has sought exemption from appearance on personal grounds and the agency has summoned him again later this week to appear before its Mumbai office to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Yes Bank had an exposure of about Rs 12,800 crore which has turned NPA, officials said.
Ambani has now been asked to appear on Thursday, they said, adding, the agency is probing if bribes were paid to the loans.
In a statement last week, the Reliance Group had said that its entire debt from Yes Bank was fully secured and was availed in the ordinary course of business.
Ambani’s nine group companies are stated to have taken loans of about Rs 12,800 crore from the bank.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had told a Press conference on March 6 that the Anil Ambani Group, Essel, ILFS, DHFL and Vodafone were among the stressed corporates Yes Bank had exposure to.
All the big companies who had taken large loans from the crisis-hit bank, which later turned bad or were in the red, are being summoned for questioning in the case to take the investigation forward. Promoter of Avantha Group Gautam Thapar, who has been named as an accused along with Rana, is also being summoned for questioning, they said.
Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor, 62, is undergoing ED custody after he was arrested by the central probe agency early this month. A Mumbai court on Monday extended Kapoor’s custody till March 20.
The ED has accused Kapoor, 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 allegedly turned non-performing asset (NPA).
As many as 44 companies belonging to 10 large business groups ae reported to have accounted for NPA worth Rs 34,000 crore of Yes Bank.
Other companies on the list of defaulters include Dewan Housing Finance Corporation, Jet Airways, Cox & Kings, and Bharat Infra and the promoters of these companies will also be questioned soon in connection with the ongoing money laundering case.
Kapil Wadhavan of DHFL has been summoned on Tuesday, Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways and Subhash Chnadra of Zee have been asked to appear on Wednesday and Thapar has been asked to appear on March 21, sources said, clarifying that they are yet to be booked in a criminal case by any agency as accused till so far.