The grand old party suffered significant embarrassment as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released a case study on Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor. According to the report, Kapoor allegedly obtained awards and accolades inappropriately by purchasing a “mediocre” painting from Congress.
Rana Kapoor was "forced" to buy an M. F. Husain painting from Congresswoman Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The case was sighted in the FATF's recent report.@bhavatoshsingh takes you through the specific transaction that is now the focus of the FATF report. pic.twitter.com/UTe2xcSxoL
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) March 13, 2023
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a case study titled ‘Purchase Art with Illicit Proceeds and Use Art of No Value to Pay Kickbacks’, in which they indirectly referred to Rana Kapoor as “Mr A” and accused him of misusing his position during his tenure. According to the study, “Mr A” purchased a piece of art for USD 264,000 from a close relative of a previous ruling party, which held no significant value.
“A money laundering investigation revealed that Mr A used his influence to sanction the loan to a loss-incurring entity, Company B. Investigations further revealed that Company B diverted the loan to 79 shell companies including Company C, which was controlled and owned by Mr A and his daughters. Company C received USD 79 million and used part of the funds to purchase assets including art from famous painters and influential people. Mr A invested a significant amount of proceeds in buying the art of famous artists. Investigations revealed that he had purchased around 44 paintings,” the case study said.
The allegation stated that Mr A had improperly obtained awards and recognition from various organizations. The investigation revealed that Mr A had resorted to purchasing substandard artwork from politicians in order to provide kickbacks for receiving awards. These kickbacks were then disguised as legitimate art transactions and paid through banking channels. During one such instance, Mr A allegedly purchased a piece of art from a close relative of a member of the previous ruling political party for USD 264,000. Congress-led UPA government was in power before Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014.
The investigation concluded that the actual value of the artwork was significantly lower and that the payment was made as a bribe to secure the prestigious Indian award, ‘Padma Bhushan’ for himself.
According to Rana’s statement to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), included in the second supplementary charge sheet filed before a special court in Mumbai, he claimed that he was coerced into purchasing a painting from the ruling party in 2010.
On March 8, 2020, the ED arrested Kapoor on charges of approving loans amounting to USD 628 million for businesses that were either experiencing losses or had negative credit, in blatant disregard for established norms and regulations.
