CBI carries out searches in Yes Bank case

Avantha group promoter Gautam Thapar is already being probed in another case related to diversion of public money in Yes Bank

Oyster Buildwell Private Ltd and Avantha group promoter Gautam Thapar are among six named by the CBI in its FIR in connection with a case of diversion of Rs 466.51 crore which they got through a loan from Yes Bank during 2017-19.

After filing an FIR, a statement said on Wednesday, the CBI carried out searches at 14 locations in Delhi-NCR and three other cities -- Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Secunderabad (Telangana) and Kolkata (West Bengal).

Besides Thapar, the CBI has also booked directors of Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd - Raghubir Kumar Sharma, Rajendra Kumar Mangal and Tapsi Mahajan - as well as unidentified executives of Avantha Realty Pvt Ltd and Jhabua Power Ltd.

Thapar is also being probed in a case related to diversion of public money in Yes Bank allegedly involving the bank's former chief Rana Kapoor.

The case was registered on June 2 following a complaint filed by bank's Chief Vigilance Officer Ashish Vinod Joshi on May 27. Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd (OBPL) is part of Avantha group with over 97 per cent percent stake held by Avantha Realty.

According to the CBI FIR, the accused have "committed breach of trust, cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery for diversion/misappropriation of the public money during the period from 2017 to 2019, thereby, causing loss to the tune of Rs. 466.51 crore (approx) to Yes Bank".

The CBI alleged that Oyster Buildwell Private Ltd availed a term loan facility of around Rs 515 crore from Yes Bank Limited in December, 2017. The loan amount was declared as non-performing asset (NPA) on October 30, 2019.

"Further, the borrower was allegedly declared ‘Red Flagged Account’ on March 6, 2020 on the basis of Early Warning Signals (EWS)," it said.

The Yes Bank, in its complaint that is part of the FIR, had alleged that Jhabua Power Limited (JPL), a group concern of Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd, entered in an operations and maintenance contract for its 600 MW power plant with its holding company Jhabua Power Investment Ltd (JPIL) for 10 years.

The Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd was to pay an interest-free refundable security deposit of Rs 515 crore to JPIL for which Yes Bank had sanctioned a long-term loan of Rs 515 crore for 10 years. However, the complaint said, the company defaulted on payments.

A forensic audit of the account showed that only Rs 14.16 crore of the Rs 514.27 crore given by the bank were transferred to JPIL and "ultimate end use of Rs 500.11 crore loan fund could not be ascertained", Yes Bank said in its complaint.

It also showed that JPIL gave an advance of Rs 345.15 crore to Avantha Power and Infrastructure Ltd from the security money received from Oyster Buildwell Private Ltd. However, the complaint said, the money trail could not be established by the auditor as there were no account statements in this regard.