Deepak Kochhar arrested by ED
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested former ICICI Bank managing director Chanda Kochhar’s husband, Deepak Kochhar, in connection with a money-laundering probe against the couple and companies linked to them, officials said. Deepak Kochhar was arrested in Mumbai after he failed to give satisfactory response to fresh evidence gathered by the investigation team suggesting suspicious transactions in his firm.
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested former ICICI Bank managing director Chanda Kochhar’s husband, Deepak Kochhar, in connection with a money-laundering probe against the couple and companies linked to them, people familiar with the developments said.
Officials said Deepak Kochhar was arrested in Mumbai after he failed to give satisfactory responses to fresh evidence gathered by the investigation team, suggesting suspicious transactions in his company NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd.
He was called for questioning and confronted with several documents before being arrested.
“He was evading answers to certain questions related to transactions in his company,” said an officer who didn’t wish to be named.
He will be produced in a PMLA (prevention of money laundering act) court on Tuesday morning.
Deepak Kochhar’s lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, declined to comment.
Deepak Kochhar’s arrest is the first such action in a multiagency investigation against the couple for decisions Chanda Kochhar took as the head of the private sector ICICI Bank in giving loans to Videocon Group in lieu of alleged bribes.
Chanda Kochhar stepped down from ICICI Bank on October 4, 2018, after allegations of irregularities surfaced.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also investigating the Kochhars for alleged corruption.
In its FIR registered in January last year, CBI alleged that six high-value loans worth ₹1,875 crore were given by ICICI Bank to Videocon group companies between 2009 and 2011.
While attaching properties worth ₹78.15 crore belonging to Kochhars in January 2020, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said an amount of ₹64 crore — out of a loan of ₹300 crore sanctioned by a committee headed by Chanda Kochhar to Videocon International Electronics Limited — was transferred to M/s NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd by Videocon Industries Limited (VIL) on September 8, 2009, just one day after the disbursement of the loan.
THE CBI IS ALSO INVESTIGATING THE KOCHHARS FOR ALLEGED CORRUPTION