Ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar’s arrest only tip of the iceberg, says whistle-blower: Report

A special court in Mumbai on Monday sent Videocon group's founder Venugopal Dhoot to CBI custody till December 28 and extended the remand of former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar till the same date in the alleged Rs 3,250-crore loan fraud case. 

Arvind Gupta, the whistle-blower who exposed the alleged scam in 2016, on Tuesday told Moneycontrol that the arrests form only the “tip of the iceberg".

"The probe has not yet identified Chanda Kochhar’s coterie of officials. What has happened now is only an early and preliminary detention," said Gupta. 

Gupta said Dhoot agreeing to become an approver "will open a Pandora's box". He also said that many questions remain unanswered and which will get addressed in due course of time. Why would a big corporate company form a JV with a banker’s husband, asked Gupta while referring to the former ace banker's husband. 

"About Rs 10 lakh crore to Rs 11 lakh crore bad loans have been written off in the last five years. It is impacting the health of economy. You are allowing only crony promoters to prosper, looting public money through shady deals," said Gupta. 

He also said that Kochhar wasn't the only person in the committee that allowed loans be given to Videocon. 

"In the CBI FIR, they have named senior management officials. Even the CBI has said the role of these senior officials of the sanctioning committee needs to be investigated. That is yet to happen," Gupta told Moneycontrol.

In 2019, Gupta expressed satisfaction over cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the Kochhars. 

"I think this is just a good beginning of the investigation. Its roots will go further deep and outside India also. I want the government to see how few companies in India are getting money from abroad. Whose money is this? Chanda Kochhar is just a tip of the iceberg. The situation is the same in all the banks. I feel all the corrupt bankers will now think 10 times before doing something wrong," Gupta told ANI.

"The bad condition of banking today is because of favouritism and corruption. Not only Chanda Kochhar, but there are also many people in the organisation who should be looked into. I cannot give a clean chit to independent directors, the board of director and even the chairman. The entire ICICI team from top to bottom needs to be investigated," he added.

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