Two days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar along with her husband Deepak Kochhar, the agency arrested Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot in the ICICI Bank fraud case. All three have been arrested in connection with alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by Chanda Kochhar to Videocon for kickbacks by Dhoot to Deepak Kochhar's company.
The agency, on Saturday, received custody of the Kochhars for three days after they were produced at a special Mumbai court. The CBI said that the Kochhars were evasive in their responses and did not cooperate in the investigation.
The Kochhars and Dhoot are involved in the Rs 3,000-crore loan fraud case. The case revolves around six high-value loans that were disbursed by ICICI Bank when Chanda Kochhar was at the helm to various companies of Videocon between June 2009 and October 2011.
CBI has alleged that Dhoot invested crores in Deepak Kochhar’s Nupower Renewables where he had a 50 per cent stake. The investment came after ICICI Bank sanctioned Rs 3,250 crore to Videocon Group.
The disbursed loan eventually turned non-performing asset (NPA) and was marked as a bank fraud. After the case came to the fore, Chanda Kochhar stepped down as CEO and MD of the bank.
The Kochhars, Dhoot, Nupower Renewables, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd, and Videocon Industries Limited have been booked by the CBI under criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said.
Also read: Videocon loan fraud case: CBI gets 3-day custody of ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar