ED arrests businessman Gautam Thapar on money laundering charge

The action against the promoter of the Avantha Group of companies comes in connection with one of the cases involving loans from the Yes Bank.

August 04, 2021 07:25 am | Updated 01:33 pm IST - New Delhi

Gautam Thapar

Gautam Thapar

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Gautam Thapar , promoter of the Avantha Group (AG) of companies, in connection with one of the cases involving loans from the Yes Bank.

Also read: Yes Bank crisis | Rana Kapoor: The rise and quick downfall of a maverick banker

In June, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against Avantha Realty Limited, Mr. Thapar and others for allegedly cheating the bank of ₹466.51 crore in 2017-19.

Among those arraigned were Avantha Realty, Oyster Buildwell Private Limited, Raghubir Kumar Sharma, Rajendra Kumar Mangal and Tapsi Mahajan, unknown officials of Jhabua Power Investment Limited, Jhabua Power Limited, Avantha Holdings Limited and Avantha Power and Infrastructure Limited.

The same month, the CBI booked C.G. Power and Industrial Solution Limited, its former chairman-cum-managing director, Mr. Thapar, and others for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks to the tune of ₹2,435 crore from 2015 to 2019.

Last year, the CBI instituted a case against Yes Bank's former Managing Director Rana Kapoor and his family members for allegedly receiving ₹307 crore in bribe to extend favours to the AG entities in the form of concessions in loan repayments and more credit facilities.

The amount was paid via sale of a Lutyens' Delhi bungalow, against a declared value of ₹685 crore, for only ₹378 crore to Bliss Abode Private Limited, in which Ms. Kapoor was a director, as alleged.

In January 2020, the total outstanding against various loans from Yes Bank to the Avantha Group entities was ₹1,900 crore.

Based on the CBI cases, the ED has been conducting investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

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