Probe ambit widens to Kochhar family companies, transactions

NEWDELHI: Investigative agencies are looking closely at companies owned by ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak and his brother Rajiv to see if any of them were set up solely to be shell companies that help their promoters hide ownership, evade tax, and launder money, according to an investigator directly involved in the matter.

“The prime f ocus is on Nupower Renewables and its shareholders. The shareholders have changed over the years and this is where names of companies such as DH Renewables Holding and Pacific Capital Services emerge,” said the investigator, who asked not to be named because the probe is ongoing and no case has been filed.

According to the investigator, the team has uncovered a network of companies. For instance, Pacific Capital has four subsidiaries, he said. These are Daisy Finvest Pvt Ltd, Opel Properties Pvt Ltd, Powerful

Fintrade and Investments Pvtd Ltd, and Opel Properties Pvt Ltd. HT has verified this with documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (ROC).

Several agencies are examining the relationships and transactions between Deepak Kochhar and Rajiv Kochhar and the Videocon group on the basis of what the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) calls a source-based complaint. The allegation is that companies owned by the two brothers may

have benefited from illegal payments made by the Videocon group in return for a loan extended to the conglomerate by ICICI Bank, which is headed by Chanda Kochhar.

In Rajiv Kochhar’s case, CBI is investigating whether his firm Avista Corporate Finance helped Videocon restructure its debt, including that with ICICI, and, if this was indeed the case, whether there was anything untoward in this process.