The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), two days after it arrested former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband and businessman Deepak Kochhar, also arrested Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot in connection with the ICICI Bank fraud case. CBI sources have said that the Kochhars and Dhoot conspired together, and have evidence to prove the same.
Venugopal Dhoot's arrest was based on the material evidence gathered by the CBI against him during the probe in the last two years. The court was told that Dhoot was not cooperating and hence was arrested this morning.
Here’s what Venugopal Dhoot had done leading up to his arrest:
Venugopal Dhoot is accused of investing in Deepak Kochhar’s Nupower Renewables, as kickbacks for loans that his company Videocon Group received from ICICI Bank, which was then helmed by Chanda Kochhar.
Books of Venugopal Dhoot’s firms indicate that Rs 64 crore loan to Deepak Kochhar’s firm was kickbacks for Rs 3,250 crore loan from ICICI Bank.
Between 2009 and 2011, six loans amounting to Rs 1,875 crore were sanctioned by Chanda Kochhar-led ICICI Bank.
However, the loans that were disbursed turned into NPAs and were marked as bank fraud.
According to the CBI, Chanda Kochhar – recipient of the Padma Bhushan award – abused her position and received illegal gratification to Dhoot through her husband for sanctioning loans to Videocon.
Meanwhile, Dhoot’s Videocon was posting continuous losses for consecutive fiscal years. The losses were due to a decline in income.
Videocon’s debt surged as its telecom services business failed and lost about Rs 7,000 crore, as well as the picture tube plant modernisation in Gujarat that cost Rs 4,000 crore.
Competition from companies like LG and Samsung also meant that its flagship consumer durables business slowed down too.
State Bank of India had filed an insolvency plea against Videocon Industries in December 2017. Subsequently insolvency proceedings were started against 15 other entities of the group.
The Dhoot family offered to pay Rs 30,000 crore to lenders to settle outstanding loans and pull 13 Videocon Group companies out of the insolvency proceedings. The offer was rejected by the lenders.
In June last year, the Mumbai bench of the NCLT approved Vedanta Group's Twin Star Technologies' resolution plan for Videocon Industries Ltd.
In December 2021, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) moved NCLAT against the NCLT order that approved the consolidated resolution plan for 13 companies of Videocon Group, including Videocon Telecommunications.
The consortium of lenders of Videocon Industries has invited fresh expressions of interest for the debt-ridden group after the insolvency appellate tribunal rejected the approval of Rs 2,692 crore bid by Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal-promoted Twin Star Technologies in January.
Also read: Videocon loan fraud case: CBI gets 3-day custody of ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar
Also read: CBI arrests Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot in ICICI Bank fraud case