The Enforcement Directorate has initiated a money laundering probe on the basis of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case against Chanda Kochhar, then managing director and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank, her husband Deepak Kochhar, Videocon Group head Venugopal Dhoot and others for sanction of credit facilities allegedly in violation of rules.
The agency will investigate the money trail to determine whether there was any laundering of the funds involved.
The CBI registered the FIR last month, also naming Mr. Kochhar’s company Nupower Renewables Ltd. (NRL), Videocon International Electronics Ltd., Videocon Industries Ltd. and Supreme Energy Private Limited (SEPL). The case was lodged following a preliminary inquiry instituted on December 8, 2017, on charges that the bank sanctioned credit facilities of about ₹3,250 crore in violation of its credit policy and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines.
It was also alleged that as part of the quid pro quo , Mr. Dhoot made an investment of ₹64 crore in the NRL through the SEPL, and also transferred the latter to the Pinnacle Energy Trust, managed by Mr. Kochhar, through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012. The agency found that the bank had sanctioned six high-value loans to various Videocon Group firms.
