MUMBAI : Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor’s family borrowed ₹375 crore from Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd in 2017 to finance the purchase of a marquee property in Delhi’s prestigious Amrita Shergill Marg that its owner, industrialist Gautam Thapar, had pledged with the bank, two people directly aware of the matter said.

According to these people, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which arrested Kapoor on Sunday, is investigating if Yes Bank had followed due process in the sale, though the loan itself is not under investigation. Yes Bank sold the property to the Kapoor family near the reserve price, the people said on condition of anonymity.

According to the two people, ED is investigating Kapoor and the web of companies he and his family floated, a large chunk of which are real estate holdings. Kapoor’s involvement in the Amrita Shergill Marg transaction is being particularly looked into, the people said. Bliss Abode Pvt. Ltd, in which Rana Kapoor’s wife Bindu Kapoor is a director, had bought the property from Thapar’s Avantha Realty Ltd, after the company defaulted on a loan from Yes Bank. “The marquee property was sold to Bindu Kapoor’s company and that raises a lot of questions. Bliss Abode purchased the property for about ₹378 crore and we are evaluating whether this transaction was kosher," said one of the two people cited above. “It is not yet clear if the property was put up for auction as it should have been and could have fetched a price higher than the reserve price."

According to documents seen by Mint, the sale deed between Avantha Realty and Bliss Abode was executed on 15 September 2017, six months after Bliss Abode was incorporated.

The second person said Bliss Abode had borrowed ₹375 crore from Indiabulls Housing Finance to buy the property. The loan, he said, is being serviced and the property was used as collateral for the loan. A deed of hypothecation seen by Mint showed that the total loan of ₹375 crore was registered through five loan agreements—four agreements on 5 October 2017 worth ₹285 crore and another ₹90 crore registered on 13 July 2017. The deed of hypothecation being referred to is between Bliss Abode and IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd. According to the people cited above, Indiabulls Housing Finance extended the loan to finance the purchase. The document also showed that Kapoor was the co-borrower of these loans for Bliss Abode.

Since RBI seized the bank on 5 March, Yes Bank shares have dropped 32% to close at ₹25.05 on the BSE on Thursday, while Indiabulls Housing Finance has lost 43% to close at ₹163 in the same period. An email sent to Indiabulls Housing Finance remained unanswered till press time.

As on 31 March 2019, Bliss Abode was wholly owned by RAB Enterprises (India) Pvt. Ltd, one of the companies linked to Kapoor. Interestingly, the registered office of Bliss Abode too is at 40, Amrita Shergill Marg. Bliss Abode reported a net loss of ₹1.01 crore on revenues of ₹1.05 crore in FY19.

Mint had reported on 8 November that Yes Bank lent ₹2,183 crore to eight unlisted companies linked to the Indiabulls Group that either have negative net worth or an average equity capital of ₹1 lakh, citing an additional affidavit filed by Citizens Whistle Blower Forum in the Delhi high court has alleged.

A spokesperson for Indiabulls said in response to the 8 November story that the promoter of Indiabulls has no loans outstanding from Yes Bank and all loans were fully repaid a few years ago.

deborshi.c@livemint.com

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