The CBI has arrested Videocon founder Venugopal Dhoot in connection with the ICICI Bank loan case. Dhoot is a co-accused in the cheating case wherein Videocon received a loan of over Rs 3,250-crore loan from the ICICI Bank when Chanda Kochhar was the CEO.
Dhoot's arrest comes days after Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were arrested by the CBI in the case. The Kochhars are currently being interrogated by the agency.
The case against the trio is that the ICICI Bank sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crore to the companies of Videocon Group promoted by Venugopal Dhoot in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines and the credit policy of the bank.
As a part of the quid pro quo, Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in Nupower Renewables (NRL) 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, the FIR has alleged. The loan was eventually turned into a Non-Performing Asset (NPA), or bad loan, and was later marked as a 'bank fraud'.
The FIR by the CBI, filed in 2019, names the Kochhars and Dhoot, along with companies Nupower Renewables (NRL), Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Limited as accused under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
A special court in Mumbai on Saturday remanded ICICI Bank's former CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) till December 26 in connection with alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by the bank to Videocon Group companies. The Kochhars were arrested by the probe agency on Friday night after a brief questioning session. The CBI has alleged that they were evasive in their response and did not cooperate in the investigation
