New Delhi, Dec 24, 2022: Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were arrested by the CBI in a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in an over Rs 3,000-crore loan provided to the Videocon Group when she was heading the private sector bank.
Chanda Kochhar, 59, had quit as the CEO and managing director of ICICI Bank in October 2018 owing to allegations that she was favouring Videocon Group, a consumer electronics and oil and gas exploration company.
She has been accused of criminal conspiracy and cheating by the CBI for alleged irregularities in a loan of Rs 3,250 crore in 2012 to the Videocon Group, which then became a non-performing asset for the ICICI Bank.
According to allegations labeled by a whistle-blower, Ms Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar and her other family members had greatly benefited from the dealings.
As per the charges in the case, former Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot allegedly invested crores of rupees in NuPower Renewables, a company founded by Mr Kochhar, months after the Videocon group was granted a loan by the bank.
The loan was cleared by a committee of which Ms Kochhar was a member, says the CBI. The agency further added that she abused her official position and “got illegal gratification/undue benefit through her husband from Dhoot for sanctioning Rs 300 crore to Videocon.”
“I reiterate that none of the credit decisions at the bank are unilateral … the organisation design and structure obviate the possibility of conflict of interest,” Chanda Kocchar had said in a statement.
