ICICI loan fraud case: Bombay HC grants bail to Kochhars, CBI likely to move SC

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

New Delhi, Jan 09, 2023: In a massive relief for former ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar, the Bombay High Court today granted interim bail to the couple, allowing their release from judicial custody. The court also observed that the “arrest was not in accordance with the law."

 

Sources say CBI is likely to move Supreme Court today challenging the Bombay HC order favouring Chanda kochchar & Deepak Kochchar.

The duo were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on December 23, 2022 in a money laundering case involving a loan from the ICICI bank and the Videocon Group. The group had taken a loan of Rs 3,250 crore from the bank in 2012.

The CBI had also arrested Videocon Group’s Venugopal Dhoot in connection with the same fraud case, days after the Kochhars were arrested.

The Kochhars and Dhoot, as well as the companies Nupower Renewables (NRL), Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd, and Videocon Industries Limited, were all named as accused in the FIR that was filed in 2019 under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI had claimed that ICICI Bank granted credit facilities totaling 3,250 crore to Videocon Group companies promoted by Dhoot in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines, and the bank’s credit policy.

The FIR also stated that, Dhoot made a 64 crore investment in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL) and transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012.

Following the corruption allegations against Chanda Kochhar, she was fired as the CEO of ICICI Bank in 2019. The enforcement authorities had also claimed that Kochhar had approved ‘high value’ loans to Videocon Industries, in violation of the bank’s lending policies. In exchange, Videocon’s owner reportedly made an investment in Deepak Kochhar’s NuPower Renewables.

The Kochhar couple, Dhoot, and others were charged with money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate in 2019.

According to media reports, Venugopal Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL) and transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar via an indirect route, and most of the loans made during Chanda Kochhar’s tenure became non-performing assets, resulting in a Rs 1,730 crore loss to the bank.