2020, the year that was: Bank frauds, drug hauls kept probe agencies busy

ED and CBI probed high-profile frauds; arrested Rana Kapoor, Deepak Kochchar

From investigating Rana Kapoor, once the most sought-after bankers, to freezing Amnesty International’s India bank accounts and even rounding up high-profile Bollywood stars, two of the Centre’s premier probe agencies — the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) — had a busy 2020.

Despite a nationwide lockdown, the enforcement agency issued notices to politicians while the NCB questioned and arrested people in the glamour world, alleged to have consumed and distributed banned substances.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), too, kept pace as it registered almost 60 new cases in the first 10 months of the year, of which at least 45 are related to the bank frauds worth over Rs 17,000 crore.

The year also saw several activists and even academics booked or charged under the anti-terrorism law and other laws for expressing their discontent.

Downfall of YES Bank

The YES Bank loan fraud was the most-high profile case of the year. In March, the CBI registered two cases against co-founder Rana Kapoor and his family members. Others who have booked in the scam include Dewan Housing Finance promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawans.

Kapoor is accused of giving loans to companies with weak finances and receiving kickbacks. The matter also triggered questioning of top borrowers including Reliance Group’ Anil Ambani and Essel Group’s Subhash Chandra.

Though the ED has filed a charge sheet in a money laundering case against Kapoor, the CBI probe is still going on.

Amid the investigation, the Wadhawans even flouted the lockdown guidelines with an intention of evading the probe. Both are now in judicial custody. Kapoor, on the other hand, has been in jail since March with his bail plea rejected multiple times.

Another case, which caught international attention, was the enforcement agency seizing the bank account of an associate company of Amnesty International in September.

The ED has been checking money laundering and forex violation crimes, of two entities — Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd and Indians for Amnesty International Trust (linked to the NGO). Calling the action a witch hunt, the NGO halted its India operations.

Other frauds

This year is also notable for the ICICI-Videocon case involving the lender’s former chief Chanda Kochhar and husband Deepak Kochhar. In September, the ED made its first arrest in the case by taking Deepak into custody. He has been in judicial custody since. Mean-while, the ED has filed its first prosecution complaint in the case and is also preparing to file an additional one by January next year.

Among other corporate frauds, GVK group had come under the radar of the ED and the CBI. The CBI on June 27 filed a criminal case against 14 persons, including GVK Group Chairman G V K Reddy, his son G V Sanjay Reddy, and officials of MIAL, the Airports Authority of India, and several entities for alleged cheating, fraud, and criminal conspiracy under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Investigations by both the agencies are underway. 

Drugs and Bollywood

After the alleged suicide of film star Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14, the NCB arrested 18 people and questioned stars like Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, etc.  During the course of the investigation, WhatsApp chats related to drug consumption, procurement, usage and transportation were leaked.

In December, the NCB made its “biggest” seizure of drugs — Rs 2.5 crore — during raids in Mumbai.

However, the pandemic did slow down the pace of investigation by these agencies, especially in terms of court procedures. Most of the charge sheets that the ED has filed — against senior congress leader P Chidambaram in INX Media case, Kochhar and others in ICICI-Videocon loan fraud case, etc — are still awaiting cognizance by judicial authorities.

“Due to virtual hearings, the courts are unable to verify documents which accompany these charge sheets. The issue will persist as long as the courts are not fully functional,” said a senior investigator privy to the process.

During the lockdown, the agencies received at least two dozen applications seeking bail including from middleman Christian Michel and Ranbaxy’s Shivinder Mohan Singh.

Michel has been in judicial custody since January in the AgustaWestland scam. He said he was prone to the infection since his immunity was low. The former promoter of Ranbaxy, who is also facing money laundering charges, sought bail on similar grounds.

Another challenge was countering bail applications which were applied on the grounds of social distancing.