In its chargesheet filed before a local Mumbai court, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that former Yes Bank chairman Rana Kapoor paid £200,000 for an MF Husain painting and the money was later utilised for the treatment of Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in New York.
Kapoor was forced by then petroleum minister Murli Deora to purchase the painting from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Deora visited Kapoor’s offices many times to force him to buy the paintings, the probe agency said.
Deora also sent messages and called Kapoor in this respect several times. Kapoor tried to avoid Deora’s call and didn’t respond to his messages. However, he purchased the painting later. Kapoor gave a cheque of £200,000 to Deora. His statements read that he was promised that it would help him getting a Padma Bhushan. But it was never fulfilled.
The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Kapoor on March 8, 2020, for allegedly conspiring with Dewan Housing Finance Limited promoters and siphoning off funds worth £505 million from Yes Bank through “suspicious transactions”.
