Yes Bank to get fresh forensic investigation into its top 10 defaulters

MUMBAI: Yes Bank is looking to conduct an in-depth investigation of its top 10 accounts that have either turned bad or have been declared fraudulent, three people aware of the development said. The private lender is looking to conduct a forensic investigation of a few ADAG Group companies, its exposure to Essel Group, Essar Group and Cox & Kings.

In some of these cases the first round of forensic investigation was carried out by a group of lenders, which Yes Bank was part of. According to the people in the know, Yes Bank is looking to get a digital forensic audit and asset tracing probe on some of the top accounts.

While Yes Bank did not respond to an email query, its chief Prashant Kumar had hinted about a planned approach against defaulters last month.

“We are taking a planned approach towards bad loan recovery, in fact in the coming days you will hear our actions (against defaulters) would have reached such a stage that it would be under public scrutiny, the actions we are taking are confidential so I can’t discuss much,” Kumar had told ET in August. “For each of these (fraud & bad) accounts there is a separate strategy, there is a separate action plan and because of the legal processes it takes time. In the coming months you will see substantial action against all these defaulters.”

Responding to an ET query a Zee and Essel group spokesperson said, “Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd does not have a banking relationship with Yes Bank. An Essar spokesperson said, “We have no comments to offer on the alleged enquiry.” ADAG group and Cox and Kings did not respond to the query.

In most of the cases an investigation was carried out by a forensic investigator appointed by all the lenders. ET was first to write on January 28 that the lenders had roped in PwC and were conducting a forensic investigation in the case. After taking over Cox & Kings following a series of defaults, the lenders had discovered that the company had only ₹8 crore in a fixed deposit. The bankers also found that all computers, laptops and IT systems in the company were wiped clean and locked.