In their first appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi on Monday, former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were questioned in an ongoing probe into the alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in the sanctioning of a Rs 1,875 crore loan by the bank to the Videocon Group.
They appeared before the ED headquarters here at around 10.30 am following the agency’s summons.
The case is related to the alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in the sanction of a Rs 1,875 crore loan disbursed by ICICI Bank to the Videocon Group during 2009 and 2011.
It is alleged that Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot had given a loan of Rs 64 crore to NuPower Renewables, a company founded by Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar, six months after his group got the Rs 3,250 crore loan.
The CBI had said the money was part of a loan of Rs 40,000 crore which Videocon received from a consortium of 20 banks led by the State Bank of India.
Kochhar is accused of “sanctioning loans to private companies in a criminal conspiracy with other accused to cheat the ICICI Bank”.
The ED had registered a case of money laundering in February on the basis of a CBI FIR.
In January, an independent enquiry conducted by Justice Srikrishna Committee indicted Kochhar, who had led the bank for nearly a decade, for violation of bank’s code of conduct and conflict of interest duties in the case.
Later in March, the ED carried out simultaneous raids at the residences of Chanda Kochhar and Venugopal Dhoot in connection with the probe.
The agency searched Kochhar’s south Mumbai and Dhoot’s Aurangabad residence.
Chanda Kochhar stepped down as ICICI CEO in October last year after she was accused of conflicts of interest, lack of disclosures and quid pro quo while extending loans to the now-bankrupt Videocon Industries.
(With IANS inputs)