Deepak Kochhar has been arrested over alleged cash laundering, officers mentioned
New Delhi:
Businessman Deepak Kochhar and husband of former ICICI Financial institution CEO Chanda Kochhar has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged cash laundering in a deal between the financial institution and Videocon Group. He had been questioned since midday in the present day earlier than he was arrested at night time.
The probe company had filed a felony case underneath the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA) early final yr in opposition to Ms Kochhar, her husband and Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Group to research alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in sanctioning Rs 1,875 crore in loans by ICICI Financial institution.
The Enforcement Directorate can also be probing not less than two different situations of loans given by ICICI Financial institution throughout Ms Kochhar’s tenure to Gujarat-based pharmaceutical agency Sterling Biotech and to Bhushan Metal Group; each these are additionally being probed on alleged cash laundering prices.
The Enforcement Directorate’s case relies on a grievance registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is operating an impartial investigation; it too had named all three people and added three corporations, together with two underneath the Videocon title, owned by Mr Dhoot’s corporations.
NuPower Renewables, an organization managed by Deepak Kochhar, had additionally been named.
The CBI has alleged that Mr Dhoot invested in NuPower via one other firm – Supreme Vitality – in a quid professional quo deal through loans cleared by ICICI after Ms Kochhar took over as CEO in Could 2009.
In preliminary investigations the CBI discovered six loans value Rs 1,875 crore have been sanctioned between June 2009 and October 2011, in alleged violation of established insurance policies. These loans have been declared non-performing property in 2012, inflicting a lack of Rs 1,730 crore to the financial institution, the CBI additional alleged.
In January this yr, ICICI Financial institution filed a petition within the Bombay Excessive Courtroom in search of restoration of bonuses given to Ms Kochhar. Ms Kochhar had challenged the “termination” of her employment by the nation’s second-largest personal financial institution final yr, which had blocked her remuneration over allegations of granting “out-of-turn” loans.
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