india

Updated: Jan 24, 2019 19:49 IST

Former ICICI bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband have been named accused by the CBI in connection with the Rs 3,250 crore loan given to the Videocon Group given in 2012. Videocon managing director VN Dhoot has also been named as accused in the FIR.

The CBI on Thursday searched four locations, including the offices of Videocon and NuPower, a company operated by Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak, in Mumbai. The case involves an alleged conflict in sanctioning loans by the former ICICI chief executive.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has also registered a first information report (FIR) in the matter after conducting a preliminary enquiry. The case has been filed against Deepak Kochhar, husband of former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, in connection with the Rs 3,250 crore loan to the Videocon Group given in 2012.

The CBI initiated a preliminary enquiry after news reports claimed that Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot had allegedly provided crores of rupees to a firm promoted by Deepak Kochhar and a few relatives. The alleged transfer of money took place after Dhoot’s group was given a loan of Rs 3,250 crore loan from the ICICI Bank.

Videocon had got a loan of Rs 40,000 crore from a consortium of 20 banks led by the State Bank of India. The Rs 3,250 crore loan from ICICI Bank was a part of that.

Kochhar resigned in October last year after seeking early retirement and was replaced by Sandeep Bakhshi.

ICICI has been in the grips of a controversy over allegations that Kochhar had favoured Videocon, a consumer electronics and oil and gas exploration company, in the bank’s lending practices. Videocon’s founders had an investment in a renewable energy company founded by Kochhar’s husband, Deepak Kochhar.

Kochhar, 56, had headed ICICI, India’s third-largest lender by assets, since May 2009.