CBI books Avantha Realty, Gautam Thapar in Yes Bank fraud case

The CBI officials said that the agency sleuths were also carrying out searches at 14 locations including at Delhi NCR, Lucknow, Secunderabad and Kolkata which has led to the recovery of incriminating documents and digital evidence.

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against industrialist Gautam Thapar of Avantha Realty and Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd among several others for allegedly cheating Yes Bank to the tune of Rs 466 crore. The CBI officials said that the agency sleuths were also carrying out searches at 14 locations including at Delhi NCR, Lucknow, Secunderabad and Kolkata which has led to the recovery of incriminating documents and digital evidence. A CBI official said that the agency has filed a case against Thapar, Avantha Realty Limited, Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd, Raghubir Kumar Sharma, Rajendra Kumar Mangal, Tapsi Mahajan unknown officials of Jhabua Power Investment Limited, unknown officials of Jhabua Power Limited, unknown officials of Avantha Holdings Limited, unknown officials of Avantha Power and Infrastructure Limited and unknown public servants and private persons for the Yes Bank fraud.

The CBI registered a case on June 1 this year on the complaint of Yes Bank. The official said that it was alleged that the private company based at Gurugram and Delhi had availed a term loan facility of Rs 515 crore from Yes Bank Limited in December, 2017. The loan amount was declared as NPA on October 30, 2019. Further, the borrower was allegedly declared a 'Red Flagged Account' on March 6, 2020 on the basis of Early Warning Signals, he said. The complaint alleged criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal conspiracy and forgery for diversion or misappropriation of the public money during the period from 2017 to 2019, thereby causing a loss of Rs 466.5 crore to Yes Bank.

In March last year, the CBI had booked Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and his wife Bindu Kapoor for purchase of a marquee property in Delhi's prestigious Amrita Shergill Marg from its owner Avantha Realty promoter Gautam Thapar. The CBI in its FIR alleged that Kapoor obtained illegal gratification in the form of a property in a prime location in New Delhi at much less than the realisable market value belonging to Avantha Realty Limited (ARL), for a loan taken by it from Yes Bank for extending concessions in the already existing credits provided to the Avantha Group and for advancing additional loans. The CBI further alleged that Kapoor, his wife Bindu, also a director of Bliss Abode Private Limited (BAPL) and Thapar, promoter of Avantha Group companies, entered into a criminal conspiracy for the purpose of obtaining the "illegal gratification". The CBI FIR said that Kapoor bought the prime bungalow for Rs 378 crore, paying through BAPL, and the property was immediately mortgaged to Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited for a loan of Rs 685 crore -- which was Rs 307 cr less than the market price.

IANS