Ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar Held Guilty Of Rs 64 Crore Bribe In Loan Sanction To Videocon

ICICI Bank's former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar has been held guilty of receiving a bribe of Rs 64 crore in exchange for sanctioning a Rs 300 crore loan to the Videocon group.

An appellate tribunal at New Delhi has found Kocchar guilty, in an order dated July 3, the tribunal ruled that the payment was a clear case of 'quid pro quo', routed through Kochhar’s husband, Deepak, via a company linked to Videocon.

"The history given by the appellants (ED) has been narrated and supported by the evidence in the light of the reference of the statements under Section 50 of the PMLA Act which are admissible and can be relied," the tribunal said.

"The allegation made by the appellants stands because on paper ownership of M/s NRPL is shown to be of V N Dhoot but according to him also, the entire control of the company was of Deepak Kohhar. Thus, the allegations were made for quid pro quo to Chanda Kochhar for sanction of loan to Videocon Group of Industries," it further said.

The tribunal also highlighted, "We find substance in the allegation of the appellants for quid pro quo to Chanda Kochhar for sanction of loan of Rs 300 crores to Videocon Group of Industries and thereupon, a sum of Rs 64 crores was transferred to M/s NRPL, a company managed by Deepak Kochhar and, in fact, he was the Managing Director of the said company."

The factual issues narrated above clarifies that the appellants have taken up the matter to justify the attachment of the property.

The CBI had named Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar as well as Dhoot along with Nupower Renewables, managed by Deepak Kochhar, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd., and Videocon Industries Ltd. as accused in the FIR registered in 2019 under Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.