NEW DELHI: Widening the ambit of its probe beyond the loan given to DHFL, the investigative agencies are likely to question former directors of the Yes Bank, including its former chairman Ashok Chawla.
"Preliminary investigation found serious breach of corporate governance. All large corporate loans are under scrutiny now. The role of former directors and top management including non-executive chairman will be probed. Expect a series of questioning in the coming days," a senior ED official told TNIE.
Yes Bank sources said Chawla was close to Rana Kapoor and had met RBI governor Urjit Patel to persuade the regulator to give Kapoor one more term as managing director and CEO at Yes Bank. However, Patel rejected this.
Yes Bank’s audit committee chairman Vasanth V Gujarathi also resigned the same month, citing personal reasons. However, sources said Gujarathi had left because of specific observations made by RBI on issues related to audit and corporate governance in the bank.
"Rana Kapoor only liked yes men. He was the final authority and many times loan applications were rejected without giving any reason. I am not sure that the board members knew about all the dealings. But, yes, there was a feeling that all is not well with the bank," said a former senior executive at the bank, who did not wish to be named.
The investigators had also zeroed in on Kapoor’s foreign assets in the UK, France and the US to see if the proceeds of money laundering had been used to purchase these assets by the banker and his family.
They are looking into the transaction of all the shell companies, floated by the company and its assets, which are currently estimated at Rs 5,000 crore and all the investments made in the name of his family. Meanwhile, the income tax department is also set to initiate action against Rana Kapoor for possible tax evasion and possession of alleged undeclared foreign assets.
Ashok Chawla
Ex-finance secretary Ashok Chawla was made independent director on the board of Yes Bank on March 5, 2016. He became non-executive chairman on Oct 30, 2016 but resigned after his name appeared in a CBI charge sheet in the Aircel-Maxis case
49 per cent: The quantum of stake State Bank of India is expected to pick up in the crisis-hit private lender.
Rs 2,450 crore: The initial capital infusion by SBI in Yes Bank under a government approved bailout plan.