The Videocon Group’s Chairman, Venugopal Dhoot, was detained by the CBI today regarding the ICICI loan issue. This comes after ex-CEO of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar, and her husband, Deepak Kochhar, was detained by the CBI a few days ago in connection with a case involving suspected irregularities in a loan of more than 3,000 crores made to the Videocon Group.
The Kochhars have been brought before a court in Mumbai and are currently being questioned by investigators.
In 2019, the CBI filed an FIR under the Indian Penal Code’s criminal conspiracy and Prevention of Corruption Act provisions, naming the Kochhars and Mr. Dhoot as well as the companies managed by Deepak Kochhar, NuPower Renewables (NRL), Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd, and Videocon Industries Limited as the accused.
The complaint alleges that between 2010 and 2012 after the Videocon firm received the loan from the bank, Venugopal Dhoot invested 64 crores in NuPower Renewables as part of a quid pro quo.
The CBI claims that Ms. Kochhar was part of a committee that approved the loan. She is accused of using her position to gain financially from Dhoot through her husband in exchange for authorizing a loan of 300 million rupees to Videocon.
A group of 20 banks led by the State Bank of India provided Videocon with a 40,000 crore loan.
After allegations surfaced that she had favored the Videocon Group, a consumer electronics and oil and gas exploration business, 59-year-old Chanda Kochhar resigned as CEO and managing director of ICICI Bank in October 2018.
A year later, ICICI said that it would consider Ms. Kochhar’s departure as “termination for cause,” citing her violations of the bank’s code of conduct and internal standards.
The CBI claimed that ICICI Bank had disregarded the Banking Regulation Act, RBI norms, and the bank’s own credit policy when it granted loans totaling Rs. 3,250 crores to the Videocon Group entities promoted by Mr. Dhoot.
She has refuted all accusations of impropriety on the part of Chanda Kochhar.
