Mumbai/New Delhi, March 6 A day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) superseded the Yes Bank board for 30 days and appointed an administrator while putting a cap of Rs 50,000 on withdrawal by account holders for a month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a money laundering case and carried out searches at the residence of the bank's founder Rana Kapoor, officials said.
A senior ED official related to the probe told , "Yes, the agency registered a case of money laundering in the Yes Bank matter."
When asked if the central financial probe agency carried out searches at the residence of Kapoor in Mumbai, the official said, "Yes, the searches started late in the evening at his residence."
The ED's action comes a day after the RBI superseded the Yes Bank board for 30 days and appointed an administrator, putting a cap of Rs 50,000 on withdrawal by account holders for a month.
The RBI said that the bank's board was superseded "owing to serious deterioration in the financial position of the bank". Former SBI CFO Prashant Kumar was appointed as administrator of Yes Bank.
Yes Bank has over 1,000 branches and 1,800-plus ATMs around the country which are under severe stress after the crisis erupted last night.
Earlier in the day, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the bank was put under watch since 2017 and developments relating to it were being monitored on a day-to-day basis.
"Since 2017, the central bank noticed governance issues and weak regulatory compliance at Yes Bank, besides wrong asset classification and risky credit decisions," the Finance Minister said.
The bank took many risky credit decisions, and the RBI had advised change in management, she said, adding such decisions were taken in the interest of the bank's health. A new CEO was appointed in September 2018 and clean up of the bank started and the investigative agencies too found irregularities, she said.
Sitharaman said the RBI has been asked to assess the causes of problems and identify the role played by individuals.
The restructuring scheme will be fully effective within 30 days, she said, adding that the State Bank of India has expressed willingness to invest in Yes Bank.
( With inputs from IANS )