Videocon loan row: CBI records statement of ICICI Nodal officers

New Delhi [India], Mar. 31 (ANI): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday recorded statement of Nodal officers of ICICI Bank, who are allegedly involved in granting loan to the promoter of Videocon Group Venugopal Dhoot.

As per the CBI sources, certain documents which are in possession of probe agency are under scrutiny. However, the CBI is yet to call ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar for his statement in the matter.

"Also, during investigation if the agency finds any links with Chanda Kochhar then CBI will ask her to join investigation soon," the sources added.

Earlier in the day, the CBI registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) against Deepak in connection with the case.

Chanda Kochhar, her husband and Dhoot, have been caught up in a controversy after it was disclosed that ICICI allegedly granted loan worth Rs 3,250 crore to Videocon, of which the unpaid Rs 2,810 crore were declared NPA in 2017.

The role of Deepak Kochhar in the case dates back to December 2008, when he set up a joint venture with Dhoot, NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL) with 50-50 shares owned by both and their associates.

In 2009, Dhoot resigned as NRPL director and transferred around 25,000 shares of his to Deepak Kochhar, and a year later his company Supreme Energy Private Limited allegedly gave loan of Rs 64 crore to Deepak Kochhar's NRPL.

In what followed a timeline of share transfer between the two, Dhoot's Supreme Energy took over majority of the shares of NRPL which he transferred to his associate Mahesh Chandra Punglia.

Punglia in turn transferred his entire stake in Supreme Energy to Deepak Kochhar's Pinnacle Energy for only Rs 9 lakh, just six months after the Videocon Group got a loan of Rs 3,250 crore from ICICI Bank.

This has raised a question of conflict of interest on part of Chanda Kochhar.

Recently, taking note of the issue Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed monetary penalty worth Rs. 58.9 crore on ICICI, for failing to abide by rules on the sale of bonds in the held-to-maturity (HTM) category. (ANI)