Ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar arrested: What is the Videocon loan case?

In an FIR issued in 2019, the CBI said that the accused, Chanda, sanctioned certain loans to private companies in a criminal conspiracy with others to cheat ICICI Bank. In September 2020, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Deepak Kochhar as one of the main accused in the ICICI-Videocon loan case.

ICICI-Videocon loan case: Chanda Kochhar, former ICICI Bank CEO and Managing Director, and her husband Deepak Kochhar was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday for alleged cheating and irregularities in an over Rs 3,000-crore loan provided to the Videocon Group by the bank during her tenure in 2012.

The CBI said that the Kochhars were evasive in their responses and did not cooperate in the investigation. They will be produced before a special CBI court on Saturday.

As per the case details, Nupower Renewable was owned by Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak. Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot allegedly invested crores of rupees in Nupower months after the Videocon Group got Rs 3,250 crore as a loan from ICICI Bank in 2012, which was sanctioned by Chanda.

But eventually, the loan to Videocon turned into a Non-Performing Asset (NPA), or bad loan, and was later marked as a ‘bank fraud’. In October 2018, Chanda Kochhar, now 59, stepped down as the CEO and MD of the bank, and charges were put that she “favored Videocon Group”, a consumer electronics and oil and gas exploration company.

Source: The Economic Times

About The Author