CBI allowed to question Rana in Ezeego One Travels & Tours loan fraud case

A court here has allowed the CBI to question Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor in connection with a loan granted to Ezeego One Travels and Tours Limited (EOTTL) by the private sector lender.

Kapoor, 65, former MD and CEO of Yes Bank, is in judicial custody following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in March 2020 in a money laundering case linked to financial irregularities at the bank.

He is currently lodged in the Taloja jail in neighbouring Navi Mumbai. The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday told additional sessions judge B D Shelke that it wanted to question Kapoor in the case related to the EOTTL loan, registered in October 2020 on a complaint filed by Yes Bank.

"Criminal complicity" of Kapoor, who was the MD and CEO of Yes Bank during the relevant period, came to light during investigation, said special public prosecutor Ashish Bilgaiyan.

At Kapoor's behest, the bank sanctioned a loan of Rs 1060 crore to EOTTL (a sister concern of Cox & Kings) despite the firm's weak financial condition, the CBI said. Later, the company defaulted on repayment and its promoters also failed to honour their personal guarantee for the loan, the agency told the court. Kapoor also abused his official position further and directed bank officials to grant a short term loan of Rs 350 crore to EOTTL without any additional security, it said. He kept on sanctioning loans to EOTTL though it was a start-up and there were visible signs of financial stress in the entire Cox & Kings group, the Central agency said, adding that therefore it needed to question Kapoor. The court allowed the plea and directed the jail supritendent to permit CBI inspector Sarvjeet Mor and his team to examine and record Kapoor's statement. The CBI shall conduct video and audio recording of the proceedings, the court said.