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NEW DELHI: Videocon Industries chairman Venugopal Dhoot , who is already facing probe by multiple agencies in a sweetheart deal with husband of former ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar , has been charged by the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the Delhi Police in another corporate fraud case in which if convicted he may face prison term of up to seven years.

In a two-year-old FIR filed by the Delhi Police’s EoW on a complaint by Sanjay Bhandari of Tirupati Ceramics Ltd, the chargesheet claimed “there are sufficient evidence against accused Venugopal Dhoot to chargesheet him for the offence under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code”. Dhoot refused to comment when contacted by TOI.

The police investigation revealed that Dhoot had sold 30 lakh shares of Tirupati Ceramics, which had already been sold to another person. He had also kept the Board of the Videocon Industiries Ltd in the dark while entering into the alleged illegal sale of shares. The shares of the Tirupati Ceramics Ltd belonged to Videocon Industries.

Dhoot and his Videocon group is being investigated by CBI and Income Tax for his bank loans turning NPAs. The CBI had in March this year registered a preliminary enquiry against officials of the ICICI Bank and others for a loan of Rs 3,250 crore extended to the Videocon group. The group had secured Rs 40,000 crore loan from a consortium of banks, led by the SBI.

The CBI and I-T are also investigating allegations of a quid pro quo as Chanda Kochhar was part of the panel that decided to extend huge credit to the Videocon group which has been found as an investor in NuPower Renewables, a company owned by Deepak Kochhar, husband of Chanda Kochhar.

In the Tirupati Ceramic case, Dhoot told police that the sales of shares happened because of a “communication gap” between his Mumbai and Delhi office.

“It is established that by selling 30 lakh shares of Tirupati Ceramics Ltd, which he was not authorised to sell, the accused Dhoot has committed offence under section 420 of IPC,” the chargesheet claimed. The police said he has not yet been arrested in the case since he had cooperated during the course of investigation.

In 1995, Dhoot’s Videocon Industries Ltd , then Videocon Leasing and Industrial Finance Ltd, subscribed 30 lakh shares of Tirupati Ceramics for Rs 4 crore and with a clause that it would be listed on stock exchange. In 2011, Dhoot, however, sold these shares to a third party for Rs 60 lakh. In 2013 when Bhandari approached Dhoot for a buyback of his 30 lakh shares, the accused again sold those shares to him for Rs 90 lakh though the shares were already pledged to another company.

The police investigation has found Dhoot committing alleged fraud despite the fact that he had already sold off the shares of Tirupati Ceramics prior to taking money from Bhandari.

