Mumbai: Trouble seems to be rising for accused Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, and Venugopal Dhoot in the ICICI-Videocon loan fraud case. A Mumbai court has sent the Kochhars and Dhoot to three-day CBI custody in the ICICI-Videocon loan fraud case, according to news agency ANI. Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot, former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar and Deepak Kochhar was produced before the CBI court on Monday (December 26) in this case.
The lawyer appearing in the court on behalf of the CBI said that the CBI had sought 3-day custody of Venugopal Dhoot, Chanda Kochhar, and Deepak Kochhar. Arguing on behalf of the CBI during the hearing, the lawyer said in the court that the loss of Rs 1,730 crore to ICICI is our case. Special Public Prosecutor A Limousin, appearing for the CBI, sought three days’ custody for the face-to-face confrontation of all the accused.
The Kochhars were arrested by the probe agency after brief questioning on Friday night. Dhoot (71) was arrested on Monday morning. All three were produced before special court judge AS Syed.
Explain that apart from the Kochhar couple and Dhoot, Deepak Kochhar-run Nupower Renewables (NRL), Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Limited, and Videocon Industries Limited were named as accused by the CBI in the FIR registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2019. Is.
CBI claims that ICICI Bank gave a loan of 3250 crores to Videocon Group companies. These companies are run by Venugopal Dhoot only. In passing this loan, the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines, and the bank’s credit policy were put on hold. According to the FIR, after the loan was cleared, Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd and Pinnacle Energy Trust. Let us tell you, Deepak Kochhar, husband of Chanda Kochhar, operates Supreme Energy Private Limited and Pinnacle Energy Trust. This investment was made between 2010 and 2012. Venugopal Dhoot and Deepak Kochhar cleverly transferred ownership of Nupower Renewables and Supreme Energy.
This is the role of Chanda Kochhar in the scam
Significantly, in the year 2019, Chanda Kochhar was removed from the post of CEO of ICICI Bank as soon as the allegations of corruption surfaced. Earlier, ED had claimed that it was Chanda Kochhar who gave such a huge loan to Videocon. While passing this loan, he openly violated the policy of the bank. It is claimed that in lieu of passing this loan, Videocon invested in Deepak Kochhar’s company Nupower Renewables. In the initial investigation, the CBI came to know that 6 loans worth Rs 1875 crore were given to Videocon Group companies. These loans were given between June 2009 and October 2011. In this, the policy of ICICI Bank was clearly violated. The shocking thing is that in the year 2012 these loans were declared NPA. Due to this, the bank suffered a loss of Rs 1730 crore. Apart from CBI and ED, such allegations were leveled by several agencies including the Serious Fraud Investigation Office.
Padma Bhushan Chanda Kochhar created a ruckus because of this
Let me tell you, this matter created a lot of ruckus in the year 2019. The ‘ICICI-Videocon loan fraud’ case was being discussed all around. Because, the name of 59-year-old Chanda Kochhar cropped up in this, who was given India’s highest honor Padma Bhushan in the year 2011. There was a ruckus because Chanda Kochhar was included in Forbes International’s ‘100 Powerful Women of the World’. She remained in the list for 7 consecutive years. In 2015, Times Magazine included him in the list of ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’. In the year 2019, the ED made Kochhar’s husband-wife, Venugopal Dhoot, and others accused in the money laundering case.
CBI made this allegation about Chanda
The CBI claims that a committee of the bank gave a loan of crores of rupees to the Videocon Group. Chanda Kochhar was also on this committee. According to the CBI, Chanda Kochhar took advantage of her position and influence. She took undue advantage of Dhoot by getting him to invest in her husband’s company. However, Chanda Kochhar termed all the allegations leveled against her as baseless and wrong. He said I am repeatedly saying that one-sided decisions cannot be taken regarding loans in the bank. The policy of the institute is such that you cannot take personal advantage.
Tremendous impact on the bank’s stock
Let me tell you, Chanda Kochhar started working at ICICI Bank in 1984. She went on working and became the MD and CEO of the bank in the year 2009. In the year 2018, he resigned from the post. At the time of his resignation, the stock of ICICI Bank rose to about 6 percent. On 28 January 2019, the bank’s shares fell by 4 percent. It saw the highest decline in seven weeks and reached Rs 341.65. It was after that incident that the CBI registered a case against Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, and Venugopal Dhoot. On December 23, 2022, the bank’s shares closed at Rs 879.20, down 1.26 percent.
