There’s a whole lot of talk happening over the Yes Bank situation in India in the last week or so. The rise and fall of Yes Bank and the private sector bank’s instability over the last few months have driven its customers crazy, recently even being given a restriction of Rs.50,000 on all withdrawals from Yes Bank accounts.
Amidst all this drama, an FIR was lodged against Indian banker, Yes Bank founder, former managing director and CEO, Rana Kapoor. The noose was continuously tightening around Kapoor and his family and on 8th March 2020, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had him arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Personal Life
Born on 9 September 1957, Rana Kapoor was born and brought up in New Delhi and later completed his schooling from Delhi’s Frank Anthony Public School in 1973. Married to Bindu Kapoor, Rana the two went on to create a family including three daughters named Radha, Rakhee, and Roshini.
After completing his schooling, Rana went on to get a BA and MBA degree before beginning his career as a banker in 1980 when he joined Bank of America (BoA) as a management trainee. There, he won the CEO’s award for his performance and eventually, ended a long career with BoA in 1996, moving on to ANZ Grindlays Investment Bank (ANZIB) where he worked as General Manager and Country Head until 1998. During this time, Rana Kapoor, his brother-in-law Ashok Kapur and Harkirat Singh were also working on setting up a venture of their own, which would eventually become Yes Bank.
Business Life
What began in 1996-97 went on to materialize in 2003, when they sold their stake in an NBFC they set up together for $10 million each, which gave them enough of seed fund for the bank. They were granted a banking licence by the RBI in 2003 to set up Yes Bank. The vision of Yes Bank was “Building the Best Quality Bank of the world in India” by 2015. One of the biggest achievement’s of his career was winning Ernst & Young’s ‘Start-up Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2005.
Downfall
In 2017, Kapoor went on to become a billionaire because the Yes bank share kept rising and Kapoor held 26% share in the company. Kapoor is today 62 years old and his estimated net worth has fallen to around $377 million which is still pretty much on the higher side for the founder of a company that seems to be heading towards bankruptcy anytime soon.
The CBI has raided 7 companies linked to Kapoor including DHFL, RKW developers and Doit Urban Ventures Pvt Ltd. “Rana Kapoor entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kapil Wadhawan and others for extending financial assistance to DHFL by Yes Bank Limited in lieu of substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through the companies held by them. During April to June 2018, Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short term debentures of DHFL. Simultaneously, Wadhawan paid Rs 600 crore to Kapoor and his family members in the garb of a loan of Rs 600 crore given by DHFL to DOIT Urban Ventures Pvt Limited (A Rana Kapoor Group Company),” said the CBI’s FIR.
A total of 12 people have been accused in the case in connection with Yes Bank crisis, including Kapoor’s wife and three daughters. Currently, he’s under ED custody until 11th March and you can get all updates on this story here on ReadScoops.com.
