Ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar held guilty of taking ₹64 crore bribe to greenlight ₹300 crore loan to Videocon: Report
According to the report by The Times of India, an appellate tribunal in New Delhi in an order dated July 3 observed that Kochhar took the bribe through her husband Deepak Kochhar and a company linked to the Videocon Group in a 'quid-pro-quo' arrangement.
'The history given by the appellants (ED) has been narrated and supported by the evidence in the light of the reference of the statements under Section 50 of the PMLA Act which are admissible and can be relied upon,' the tribunal said, as per the report.
Backing the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the tribunal said that Deepak Kochhar was controlling the Videocon Group's operations at the time, making the allegations against the couple valid.
'The allegation made by the appellants stands because on paper ownership of NRPL is shown to be of V N Dhoot (CMD of Videocon group) but according to him also, the entire control of the company was of Deepak Kochhar (Chanda Kochhar's husband). Thus, the allegations were made for quid-pro-quo to Chanda Kochhar for sanction of loan to Videocon group of industries,' it said.
The tribunal further upheld the ED's case accusing Chanda Kochhar of failing to disclose conflict of interests.
'The issue remains about the transfer of ₹ 64 crore by Videocon group through its entity SEPL to NRPL day after the disbursement of loan by ICICI Bank,' the report quoted the tribunal as saying.
It was also observed that the approval of the ₹ 300 crore loan to the Videocon Group while Chanda Kochhar was part of the committee was against the policy of the ICICI Bank.
The appellate tribunal slammed an adjudicating authority that had in November 2020 allowed the release of assets worth ₹ 78 crore belonging to Chanda Kochhar and her associates, TOI reported.
'The adjudicating authority has ignored the material facts while drawing the conclusions which are coming out on the face of the record and, therefore, we cannot endorse the finding of the adjudicating authority going against the record and ignoring the relevant facts,' the tribunal said.
'Thus, we find substance in the allegation of the appellants for quid-pro-quo to Chanda Kochhar for sanction of loan of ₹ 300 crore to Videocon group and thereupon, a sum of ₹ 64 crore was transferred to NRPL, a company managed by Deepak Kochhar and, in fact, he was the managing director of the said company.'
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