Videocon loan case: CBI questions ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law

ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law Rajiv Kochhar is being questioned in Mumbai by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Videocon loan case, new agency ANI reported.

Kochhar was stopped from leaving the country at the Mumbai international airport by the authorities as the CBI had issued a Lookout Circular (LoC) against him, officials said.

He was handed over to a CBI team which is questioning him in connection with the case, they said.

"We have called Rajeev Kochhar for questioning to seek certain clarifications in the case," a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official told IANS.

The CBI has already questioned a few ICICI Bank officials as part of a preliminary enquiry to find if any quid pro quo was involved in the bank issuing a Rs 3,250-crore loan to Videocon Group in 2012.

The CBI has launched a preliminary investigation into loan ICICI Bank had extended to Videocon in 2012 and the role of Kochhar's husband. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate is waiting for the CBI to file a case in the matter so that it can also initiate probe.

It is alleged that Dhoot gave Rs 64 crore in 2010 through a fully owned entity to NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd, (NRPL), the company he had set up with Deepak Kochhar and two of his relatives. It is alleged that he transferred proprietorship of the company to a trust owned by Deepak Kochhar for Rs 9 lakh six months after he received the loan of Rs 3,250 from ICICI Bank.

Last week, the ICICI Bank board came out in support of Chanda Kochhar, saying it had full faith and confidence in her and described certain reports against her regarding credit disbursement to Videocon Group as "malicious and unfounded rumours".