Kapoor is currently in judicial custody following his arrest in 2020
New Delhi:
Rana Kapoor has “cleverly accused people who are not alive,” a congressional leader said today in response to the accusations made by the co-founder of Yes Bank against veteran leaders of the big old party, the late Murli Deora and Ahmed Patel.
Kapoor, an accused in a money laundering case, has told the Enforcement Directorate that he was “forced” to buy a painting of MF Husain from Congressional Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and that the proceeds from the sale were used by the Gandhi family to treat party chairman Sonia Gandhi in New York.
The statements are part of a supplementary assessment notice that has been submitted by the central authority to a special court.
Kapoor has said the painting was sold to him in a “force sale that I was never ready for”. He said the then petroleum minister, Murli Deora, had told him that delaying the purchase “could adversely affect my and my Yes Bank, nor would it allow me to ever have a relationship with the Gandhi family on build”. told him that not buying the painting would also ruin his chances of getting a Padma Bhushan.
“What can you expect from a person accused of a Rs 5000 crore scam? He has cleverly accused people who are not alive,” a congress leader said in response to the allegations.
Kapoor has alleged that he paid Rs 2 crore for the painting and that Milind Deora, a former congressman and son of Murli Deora, later told him that the proceeds from the sale were used by the Gandhi family to treat Ms. Gandhi in New York.
Kapoor also said that Ahmed Patel, a close confidant of Sonia Gandhi, told him that by supporting the Gandhi family at the right time, “I had done a good deed for the family and it would be duly considered for the ‘Padma Bhushan’ prize.”
“Under this threat and against the wishes of my family, as we are not high-end art collectors, I could not afford to invite any form of enmity with the two powerful families involved and so had to proceed hesitantly given the looming and overhanging threat associated with it,” Mr Kapoor told the Enforcement Directorate, is on the indictment.
Kapoor has said the formalities for closing the deal were held in Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s office. “Milind Deora had actively coordinated this latest closing meeting. I want to say that for this deal I made a payment of Rs 2 crore via check from my personal account at HSBC Bank,” he said.
However, Kapoor has emphasized that he has “never met anyone from the Gandhi family”.
The enforcement directorate has alleged that Kapoor and Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan transferred funds worth Rs 5,050 crore through suspicious transactions.
Kapoor is currently in police custody following his arrest in the March 2020 case. The Wadhwans are also in custody following their arrest in another case.
