Yes Bank founder arrested on money laundering charges
March 8, 2020
The founder of Yes Bank, Rana Kapoor, was arrested on Sunday on allegations of money laundering, after being questioned for more than 20 hours by Indian authorities.
"He has been arrested as he was not cooperating in the probe," an official of Enforcement Directorate, India's financial crime investigating agency, told AFP news agency.
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The Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank, seized control of Yes Bank on Thursday and capped withdrawals at 50,000 rupees ($695, €615) a month per depositor. The move came amid the troubled bank's deteriorating financial health following defaults by firms to whom it had loaned huge sums.
The State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, said Saturday it was ready to invest 24.5 billion rupees for a 49% stake in Yes Bank as part of a Reserve Bank of India-backed rescue plan.
"Twenty-three potential investors have approached us to invest and they include some very good names," SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar told reporters.
Grappling with a liquidity crunch
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday a restructuring plan for the bank would be implemented within 30 days.
But the limit on withdrawals had resulted in depositors lining in front of Yes Bank ATMs and branches on Friday and Saturday in a desperate bid to retrieve their savings. The bank has over 1,000 branches and more than 1,800 ATMs across the country.
India has been grappling with a liquidity crunch caused by the near-collapse more than a year ago of IL&FS, one of India's biggest shadow banks.
Yes Bank's total exposure to shadow lenders and developers was 11.5% as of September, according to Bloomberg News. The lender has been struggling for some time to raise fresh capital to free itself of an increasing pile of bad loans in order to quell worries about its viability.
India's economy has also slowed in recent months, with annual growth now estimated to fall below 5% after years of much better performance. This has added to strains on the financial sector.
sri/rc (AFP, Reuters, AP)