CBI Files FIR Against Chanda & Deepak Kochhar, Videocon Chief Venugopal Dhoot; Raids Videocon HQ, NuPower office

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against Chanda Kochhar, the then managing director (MD) and chief executive (CEO) of ICICI Bank, her husband Deepak Kochhar, VN Dhoot, MD of Videocon group, Videocon International Electronics Ltd, Videocon Industries Ltd and NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd and Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd. It is alleged that accused sanctioned certain loans to private companies in a criminal conspiracy with other accused to cheat ICICI Bank.
The CBI also carried out searches at headquarters of Videocon Group in Mumbai and Aurangabad. The CBI has registered the FIR in connection with the Rs3,250 crore loan to the Videocon Group given in 2012.
The CBI may probe role of senior officers on the sanctioning committee of ICICI Bank, including KV Kamath, Sandeep Bakshi, K Ramkumar, Sonjoy Chatterjee, NS Kannan, Sonjoy Chatterjee, NS Kannan and Homi Khusrokhan.

The action comes in the wake of a preliminary enquiry the agency registered on 31 March 2018 against Mr Kochhar, officials from Videocon group and others to determine whether any wrongdoing was involved in the sanctioning of the loan by the ICICI Bank as part of a consortium, a senior Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official told reporters.

 

After registering the case, several teams from CBI carried out searches at four places in Mumbai. The search operation covered offices of NuPower Renewables and Supreme Energy, both controlled by Mr Kochhar as well as office of Videocon group in Mumbai and Aurangabad. 

 

CBI action last year came in the wake of the news reports raising questions about Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot allegedly providing crores of rupees to a firm promoted by Mr Kochhar and his two relatives six months after Videocon group got the Rs3,250 crore loan from ICICI Bank. It was alleged that Mr Dhoot transferred a considerable portion of the loan to a company he jointly owned with Mr Kochhar.

 

The media expose was based on a complaint filed by a whistleblower, who flagged Ms Kochhar's alleged impropriety and conflict of interest in a letter to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister.

 

The bank initially termed the charges against Ms Kochhar as "malicious and unfounded rumours" but after relentless public gaze, and regulatory pressure, the lender ordered a probe into the whole issue. 

 

The said amount was part of a loan of Rs40,000 crore, which Videocon received from a consortium of 20 banks led by State Bank of India (SBI). 

 

Later on 4 October 2018, Ms Kochhar quit ICICI Bank. In a regulatory filing at that time, the lender had said, "The board of directors of ICICI Bank accepted the request of Ms Kochhar to seek early retirement from the bank at the earliest. The board accepted this request with immediate effect. The enquiry instituted by the board will remain unaffected by this and certain benefits will be subject to the outcome of the enquiry. Ms Kochhar will also relinquish office from the board of directors of the Bank's subsidiaries."

 

The decision of the 56-year-old brought to an end her nine-year reign as the top executive of the bank. In 2009, Ms Kochhar was appointed as MD and CEO of the bank and has been responsible for the bank's diverse operations in India and overseas. The board of ICICI Bank has decided to appoint Sandeep Bakshi as managing director and chief executive for next five years.