Yes Bank collapse: Rs 46,550 crore NPAs; founder Rana Kapoor arrested

Sector: BANKING | Amount: Rs 46,550 crore | Period: 2018–2020 | Accused: 15 | Convicted: 0

Investigating agencies: CBI, ED

Rana Kapoor co-founded Yes Bank in 2004 with Ashok Kapur. When Kapur was killed in the 26 November 2008 Mumbai attacks, Kapoor assumed sole command. For a decade, he drove the bank at breakneck pace - aggressive loan growth, aggressive expansion - until Yes Bank was India's fifth-largest private sector bank. It was also, unknown to depositors, quietly accumulating a loan book far worse than its published accounts showed. The Reserve Bank of India's inspectors found the problem as early as 2017. Their assessment that year showed Yes Bank had understated bad loans by Rs 4,176 crore. The RBI communicated this privately. In January 2019, it refused to renew Kapoor's term as MD and CEO - a quiet but unmistakeable signal. He was replaced by Ravneet Gill. With Kapoor gone, the true state of the book surfaced rapidly. On 5 March 2020, the RBI superseded Yes Bank's board and appointed SBI's Prashant Kumar as administrator. It imposed a moratorium: depositors could not withdraw more than Rs 50,000 across all their accounts. Yes Bank held Rs 2.09 lakh crore in deposits. The gross NPA figure was Rs 46,550 crore - a ratio of 16.8%. The year before, the bank had publicly reported 3.22%. An SBI-led consortium infused Rs 10,000 crore, the moratorium lifted on 18 March 2020, and no depositor lost money. Two days after the moratorium, the CBI's FIR alleged something beyond bad management. It alleged a specific scheme: Yes Bank sanctioned Rs 3,700 crore in loans to DHFL and its group entities between 2018 and 2019, even as DHFL was visibly collapsing after a 2018 whistleblower report. In return, the CBI alleged, DHFL promoters transferred Rs 600 crore to DoIT Urban Ventures - a company controlled by Kapoor's wife and daughters - dressed as a commercial loan. The ED, investigating the same Rs 600 crore as money laundering, arrested Kapoor on 8 March 2020 and attached assets exceeding Rs 415 crore. He spent four years in Taloja Central Prison before being granted bail on 19 April 2024 by Special CBI Judge M G Deshpande. This was not an isolated scheme. A second CBI chargesheet filed in September 2024 alleges Kapoor caused Yes Bank to invest Rs 5,010 crore in instruments of Anil Ambani's group companies despite a CARE Ratings watch designation, with ADA Group entities allegedly providing concessional benefits to Kapoor family companies in return. A third case involves Rs 2,900 crore in credit to Avantha Group and the alleged below-market acquisition of a prime Delhi property by Kapoor's wife's company for Rs 378 crore against an alleged market value of Rs 685 crore. The alleged pattern across all three cases is identical: large loans approved by the CEO; something of value flowing to his family. DHFL has since been resolved. Piramal Capital completed the IBC acquisition in September 2021; creditors recovered approximately Rs 38,000 crore. Yes Bank has recovered substantially - gross NPA fell to 1.6% by March 2025, net profit nearly doubled, and Japan's SMBC acquired a 24.22% stake in September 2025 at Rs 13,483 crore, allowing the original rescuers to exit at a profit. All four cases are at trial stage. No conviction has been recorded. The accused have pleaded not guilty. This record will be updated as proceedings advance.

Key facts

Sources

All facts are sourced. Accused means charged, not convicted.