Videocon case: ED chargesheet reveals ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's transgressions

A day after Ex-ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar was granted bail by a PMLA court, Republic TV has accessed the Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s chargesheet filed against her in the PMLA court on Saturday. The 286-page chargesheet names Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, Venugopal Dhoot and seven other companies as accused in the money laundering case. Kochhar has been granted bail on a bond of Rs 5 lakh by a PMLA court and asked not to leave the country without the permission of the court.

Videocon Case: Deepak Kochhar, ex-ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar's husband arrested by ED

ED's chargesheet against Kochhar

The ED has stated that Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar had close relationship and prior acquaintance with Venugopal Dhoot with Chanda Kochhar being a shareholder in a company in which Dhoot / Videocon Group had substantial shareholding. It also states that Chanda Kochhar was living in a flat which was owned by the companies of Videocon Group and had neither disclosed these facts to ICICI Bank nor recused herself from the committees of ICICI Bank recommending/sanctioning loans to Videocon Group of Companies. Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar who was arrested in September has not been granted bail in the case yet.

Highlighting the loans sanctioned by Kochhar while she was at the helm of ICICI, " Chanda Kochhar was the chairperson of the sanctioning committee of ICICI Bank which sanctioned loan of Rs 300 cr to Videocon International Electronics Limited. Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL) transferred Rs 64 cr out of the loan funds received from ICICI Bank to a company controlled and beneficially owned by Deepak Kochhar. Other than the loan of Rs 300 cr, 5 other high-value loans worth Rs 1,575 cr were sanctioned and disbursed by ICICI Bank to Videocon Group between 2009-11," read the chargesheet.

Ex-ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar gets bail on Rs 5 lakh surety; can't leave India without nod

What are the Kochhars accused of?

CBI had registered an FIR for alleged cheating, criminal conspiracy and under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, and Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot and his companies -- Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL) and Videocon Industries Limited (VIL) in January 22, 2019, state reports. Soon, the ED too lodged a money laundering case on Jaunuary 31 against the Kochhars and Dhoot for alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in sanctioning of ₹1,875-crore loans by ICICI Bank to the Videocon group. Both CBI and ED, had filed an FIR in 2019. While the ED has filed chargesheet, CBI is yet to do so in the case.

SC dismisses Chanda Kochhar's appeal against HC order on her termination as ICICI bank CEO

The entire matter came to light in 2016 when a whistleblower reportedly raised questions about Chanda Kochhar's loans sanctioned to the Videocon group in 2012, when she was ICICI bank's chief executive. When the issue made headlines, Kochhar sought early retirement from the bank, which was accepted by the board in 2018. A panel headed by Justice BN Srikrishna judged that  Chanda Kochhar had indeed violated the bank's code of conduct in the Videocon case and hence was not eligible for certain benefits from the bank. The Supreme Court had recently dismissed Kochhar's appeal against her termination as ICIC Bank CEO.

Court allows Deepak Kochhar to get treatment at private hospital