Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar Found Guilty of Taking ₹64 Crore Bribe in Videocon Loan Case
Chanda Kochhar Found Guilty of Taking ₹64 Crore Bribe in Videocon Loan Case
Mumbai: Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar has been found guilty of accepting a bribe of ₹64 crore for approving a ₹300 crore loan to the Videocon Group in 2009. The ruling was given by the Appellate Tribunal under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act (SAFEMA).
This new order cancels the clean chit she had earlier received from the PMLA Adjudicating Authority. The tribunal said there is enough evidence to support the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) claim that the transaction involved money laundering.
According to the tribunal, Chanda Kochhar should not have been part of the bank’s loan approval meeting because of a clear conflict of interest. Shortly after the loan was approved, ₹64 crore was traced to NuPower Renewables Pvt. Ltd., a company owned by her husband, Deepak Kochhar.
The money was routed through Supreme Energy Pvt. Ltd., which was earlier controlled by Videocon’s promoter, Venugopal Dhoot, and later transferred to Deepak Kochhar. The tribunal noted that Deepak was running NuPower and had full control over its operations.
In 2020, the ED had attached assets worth ₹78 crore from the Kochhars. That decision was reversed by the PMLA Authority but is now upheld again by the tribunal.
Deepak Kochhar was arrested by the ED in 2020 and later got bail. In December 2022, both Chanda and Deepak Kochhar were arrested by the CBI but were granted interim bail by the Bombay High Court in January 2023. The court later declared their arrest as illegal and misuse of power.
