ICICI-Videocon bank loan case: Chanda Kochhar appears before ED for questioning

New Delhi, May 13: Former ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the Videocon loan case.

Kochhar is required to assist the investigating officer of the case in taking the probe forward and her statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Her husband Deepak Kochhar has also been summoned in the same case even as her brother-in-law (Deepak's brother) Rajiv Kochhar has been grilled by the ED few days back here.

The case is related to the alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in the sanction of a Rs 1,875 crore loan disbursed by ICICI Bank to the Videocon Group during 2009 and 2011. The ED got clues about an illegal transaction running to crores of rupees routed to NuPower.

The ED has registered a criminal case under the PMLA early this year against Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, Dhoot and others to probe alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in sanctioning of Rs 1,875-crore loans by the Bank to the corporate group. This ED action was based on a CBI FIR.

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, a company founded by Dhoot, and NuPower Renewables, a company controlled by Deepak Kochhar, in the FIR.