NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Peter Kerkar, promoter of Cox and Kings, in an alleged money laundering case, in connection to the ongoing Yes Bank probe.
The arrest followed the questioning of the company's CFO and its internal auditor for almost a month.
In October, the ED had arrested Cox & Kings Group CFO Anil Khandelwal and internal auditor of Naresh Jain, under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in connection with the Yes Bank case.
"CKG forged its consolidated financials, manipulating the balance sheets of overseas subsidiaries. The questioning has revealed that the companies submitted forged papers to get loan, which later on turned NPAs," an ED official said.
Yes Bank has total outstanding of Rs 3,642 crore in respect of Cox & Kings Group of Companies (CKG).
Investigations also revealed that during the sanctioning, these documents were not crosschecked by Yes Bank and Rana Kapoor, the former cofounder of Yes Bank bypassing many norms.
"It was also revealed that CKG used fictitious customers to manipulate its sales numbers. During financial years 2015 to 2019, sales of Rs 3,908 crore via the web of fake and suspicious transaction," the official said.
"There are multiple irregularities detected in the balance sheet, which includes diversion of funds to the tune of Rs 1,100 crore.
And it was also found that the CFO and internal auditor got Rs 63 crore worth property, without making any payment. All this was done without board approval and involvement of the promoter is not ruled out, " the official said.
The official added that his fresh statement will be recorded under PMLA.