Chanda Kochhar misappropriated ICICI Bank's funds for personal use: CBI to special court

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday told a special court here that former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar misappropriated the lenders funds for personal useThe probe agency represented by special public prosecutor A Limosin made this argument while urging the special court to take cognizance of the chargesheet filed against Chanda Kochhar her husband Deepak Kochhar and others in a case pertaining to cheating and irregularities in sanctioning of loans to Videocon Group firmsChanda Kochhar was MD and CEO of ICICI Bank between May 2009 and January 2019 in which capacity she was entrusted with the Banks funds the CBI told courtShe was liable to discharge such trust in accordance with Reserve Bank of India guidelines and loan policies of ICICI Bank the CBI arguedShe conspired with the other accused persons to sanction or get sanctioned credit facilities in favour of companies of Videocon Group the CBI saidIn furtherance of criminal conspiracy a term loan of Rs 300 crore to Videocon International Electronics Limited was sanctioned in August 2009 by the committee of directors headed by Chanda KochharThe loan amount was disbursed through a complex structure involving various companies of Videocon and Rs 64 crore was transferred under the garb of investment to NuPower Renewable Limited of her husband Deepak Kochhar the court was toldAlso readICICI Banks board gave sanction to prosecute Chanda Kochhar in loan fraud case CBI tells courtThe special public prosecutor further submitted that Chanda Kochhar resided in a flat in Mumbai owned by Videocon Group The flat was subsequently transferred to her family trust of which Deepak Kochhar is managing trustee for a meagre amount of Rs 11 lakh in October 2016 while the actual value of the flat was Rs 525 crore in the year 1996Chanda Kochhar acceptedobtained illegal gratification other than legal remuneration of Rs 64 crore as a motive and also thereby misappropriated the Banks fund for her own use the CBI submittedThe CBI also argued that Deepak Kochhar conspired with other accused persons to get credit facilities sanctioned by ICICI Bank in favour of Videocon Group through his wife and to get illegal gratification of Rs 64 crore in the garb of investment through a web of transactionsThe Kochhar couple was arrested by the CBI in December last year in connection with the caseLater the Bombay High Court granted interim bail to the couple and came down heavily on the CBI for making the arrest in a casual and mechanical manner and without application of mindThe CBI had named the Kochhars and Videocons Venugopal Dhoot along with companies Nupower Renewables NRL managed by Deepak Kochhar Supreme Energy Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Limited as accused in the FIR registered under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act in 2019As per the CBI ICICI Bank had sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3250 crore to the companies of Videocon Group promoted by Dhoot in violation of the Banking Regulation Act RBI guidelines and credit policy of the bankThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever