Yes Bank borrowers to be summoned by ED

Mumbai (IANS) As the Yes Bank probe gathers momentum, the Enforcement Directorate has now decided to summon all the large borrowers who were given loans by the Rana Kapoor-led management.

An ED official said that the agency was looking into all the big borrowers of the bank and the stressed loans sanctioned during the tenure of Rana Kapoor.

Among the largest borrowers are Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani who has been summoned by the agency on March 16. Information, including loan details, terms and conditions and side agreements have been sought from Ambani.

On the list to be summoned are entities like Essel Group, Vodafone Idea, IL&FS, Dewan Housing, Jet Airways, Cox & Kings, CG Power among others .

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had stated earlier this month: "The exposure of Yes Bank to some of the very stressed corporates has been before 2014. These are public domain names and I am not violating any customer privacy Anil Ambani (Group), Essel Group, DHFL, IL&FS (and) Vodafone are some of the very stressed corporates to whom Yes Bank has been exposed."

Reliance Group said last week that it had no direct or indirect exposure to the Kapoor family. "The entire exposure to Yes Bank is fully secured and is transacted in the ordinary course of business, and we are committed to honour our repayments to Yes Bank," said the company.

Sources close to developments revealed that many top businessmen and industrialists who had exposure to Yes Bank will be called for questioning namely bosses of Essel Group, Vodafone Idea, DHFL Group, Omkar Realtors, IL & FS Radius Developers, Jet Airways, Cox & Kings, CG Power, McLeod Russel. It is believed that GMR and GVK Group also may have exposure to the bank.

The ED official further added that most of the big borrowers have defaulted and the loans have turned into bad debts. "The management and promoters will be examined and questioned in the coming weeks," said the official.