ICICI Bank to hire forensic auditor to probe allegations of irregularities into 31 loan accounts

ICICI Bank will reportedly be hiring a forensic auditor to probe allegations of irregularities in 31 loan accounts, flagged by a whistleblower, a media report said. According to The Economic Times, the bank has approached firms including BDO India, FTI India and Grant Thornton (GT) for conducting forensic investigations into the allegations. In July, the independent audit committee investigating the alleged irregularities had hired law firm Panag & Babu to assist the panel. The newspaper report said that the forensic auditor and the law firm will work together. The audit committee comprises of the bank’s independent directors. [caption id=“attachment_4411067” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image AFP[/caption] In June, ICICI Bank said it had received an anonymous complaint that alleged irregularities with respect to 31 borrower accounts, leading to incorrect asset classification. The audit committee of the board of directors of the bank has three members chaired by Uday Chitale, Dileep Choksi (alternate chairperson) and Radhakrishnan Nair. All the 31 accounts were classified as non-performing between the year ended 31 March 2012 and the year ended 31 March 2017. The aggregate loans outstanding at 31 March 2018 were Rs 6,082 crore ($898 million), about 1.1 percent of gross loans. Separately, former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar is facing an independent inquiry in connections with loan given to Videocon Group. Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday said the case involving Kochhar is pending before the adjudicating officer. --With inputs from PTI