Rana Kapoor’s Rs 127-Crore London Flat Attached In Connection With Yes Bank Case
Rana Kapoor was trying to “alienate” the London flat and had hired a reputed property consultant to sell it, ED says.
The Enforcement Directorate of India has attached Rana Kapoor's Rs 127-crore flat in London, in connection with a money-laundering case against him and others.
The ED had booked Kapoor, his family members and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2020, after studying a CBI FIR that alleged that dubious multi-crore loans were given by Yes Bank Ltd. to various entities in contravention of the law and in lieu of purported kickbacks given to the Kapoor family.
Rana Kapoor is the co-founder of Yes Bank.
The ED has issued a provisional order for attaching the property—Apartment 1, 77 South Audley Street, London—under the PMLA. "The market value of the flat is £13.5 pounds, about Rs 127 crore. Rana Kapoor purchased the property in 2017 for £9.9 million, or Rs 93 crore, in the name of DOIT Creations Jersey Limited and he is the beneficial owner," according to a statement.
The statement claimed that the agency obtained "information from a reliable source that Kapoor was trying to alienate this property in London and he has hired a reputed property consultant". "Enquiries from open sources confirmed that this property has been listed for sale on several websites," it said.
The ED, according to procedure, will now approach their counterparts in the United Kingdom to execute the attachment order and will issue a proclamation that the asset cannot be sold or purchased as it has been seized under the criminal sections of the PMLA.
The ED has earlier attached Kapoor’s assets in the U.S., Dubai and Australia in a similar fashion as part of other investigations under the PMLA.