ICICI Bank loan controversy: Videocon Group was not keen to recover Rs 64 cr given to Deepak Kochhar's firms, says MCA

As the probe against former ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak, in connection with a money laundering case related to the ICICI Bank-Videocon bank loan fraud is underway, a government investigation found that the Videocon Group was not keen to recover the Rs 64 crore that it had transferred to one of Deepak Kochhar’s firms, said a media report.

According to The Economic Times, an investigation  of the corporate affairs ministry (MCA) found that the Videocon Group “had no serious intention to recover” the Rs 64 crore it had transferred to Supreme Energy—a company promoted and incorporated by Venugopal Dhoot, founder, Videocon Group. However, by 2012, Supreme Energy was owned by Deepak Kochhar.

Citing the investigation details of the MCA, the report stated that Kochhar’s NuPower Renewables allegedly utilised the Rs 64 crore in March 2010 to buy wind energy generators from Shriram Transport Finance Company (STFCL) and Shriram City Union Finance (SCUFL) for approximately Rs 73 crore.

Early this year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Chanda, Deepak, Dhoot, and others to probe alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in ICICI Bank’s sanctioning of Rs 1,875-crore loans to the corporate group, reported PTI.

This ED action was based on a first information report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The CBI has named all the three and Dhoot’s companies—Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL) and Videocon Industries Limited (VIL). The CBI also named Supreme Energy, and NuPower Renewables, a company controlled by Deepak, in the FIR.

In March this year, a media report said that the ICICI Bank board lost faith in Chanda in April 2018 following Deepak’s disclosure acknowledging dealings with Videocon Group.

The ED reportedly unearthed dubious transactions to the tune of Rs 389 crore suspected to have been received as kickbacks by Deepak’s firm NuPower Renewables from Videocon Group and Firstland Holdings, a company based in Mauritius owned by Nishant Kanodia,when Chanda was the chief of ICICI Bank.

The MCA is also probing if NuPower also received Rs 325 crore from Firstland Holdings, the Economic Times report said.

In March this year itself, the MCA allegedly found at least 25 violations of the Companies Act by Dhoot-led Videocon Industries and NuPower Renewables, a company controlled by Deepak.

— With PTI inputs