From Banking Glory To Bribery Charges: How Rs 64 Crore Changed Chanda Kochhar’s Life

The former CEO of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar has been found guilty of receiving a bribe of Rs 64 crore in exchange for sanctioning a Rs 300 crore loan to the Videocon group by an appellate tribunal.

What Did The Appellate Tribunal Find?

In an order dated July 3, the tribunal gave ruling saying that the payment was a clear case of 'quid pro quo', routed through Chanda Kochhar's husband, Deepak, via a company that is linked to Videocon.

According to the tribunal, "The history given by the appellants (ED) has been narrated and supported by the evidence in the light of the reference of the statements under Section 50 of the PMLA Act which are admissible and can be relied upon," the tribunal said.

The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) case was upheld and the tribunal asserted that Kochhar failed to disclose her conflict of interest, and that the loan sanction violated ICICI Bank's internal policies.

Additionally, the tribunal also slammed the adjudicating authority for granting relief to Kochhar previously by releasing assets worth Rs 78 crore.

How Was This Executed?

The Rs 64 crore payment was routed from Videocon's entity SEPL to NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL), which is a company that is controlled by Deepak Kochhar, just one day after the Rs 300 crore loan was disbursed by ICICI Bank, as per the tribunal.

While on paper NRPL was shown to be owned by Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot, the tribunal emphasised that the actual control of the company remained with Deepak, who also served as its managing director.

Additionally, the allegations were corroborated by evidence and the statements recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA Act, the tribunal noted, declaring that the money trail to be direct evidence of 'quid pro quo'.

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