Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 9
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR against Oyster Buildwell Private Ltd, Avantha Group promoter Gautam Thapar and others, as its officials raided 14 locations in Delhi-NCR and three other cities in connection with a case related to alleged diversion of over Rs 466 crore in Yes Bank during 2017-19.
Agency officials said, “Thapar is already being probed in another case related to diversion of public money in Yes Bank allegedly involving bank’s former chief Rana Kapoor.”
In the latest FIR, the CBI has also named 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.
In its FIR, the CBI has alleged that Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd (OBPL) “is part of Avantha group with over 97 per cent stake held by Avantha Realty and the remaining by Thapar and Vani agencies”.
The Central probe agency has registered the case on the basis of a complaint dated May 27, 2021, which it received from Yes Bank’s Chief Vigilance Officer Ashish Vinod Joshi.
The CBI has alleged that the accused have indulged in a criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and forgery for diversion of public money to the tune of Rs 466.15 crore, the officials said.
After registering the case, the CBI team searched 14 locations in Delhi and NCR, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Secunderabad (Telangana) and Kolkata (West Bengal), including the premises of the accused, they said.
The complaint by Yes Bank, now a part of the FIR, has alleged that Jhabua Power Limited (JPL), a group concern of OBPL, entered in operations and maintenance contract for its 600 MW power plant with its holding company Jhabua Power Investment Ltd (JPIL) for 10 years.
The OBPL was required 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.
“The company defaulted on payments with the account turning into a non-performing asset on October 30, 2019. The total outstanding principal dues stand at Rs 466.15 crore,” alleged the complaint.
Defaulted on payments