VideoconICICI loan: CBI questions bank officials
The CBI has questioned several ICICI bank officials as part of a preliminary enquiry (PE) to determine if any quid pro quo was involved in the bank issuing a ₹3,250 crore loan to the Videocon Group in 2012.
Agency officials said they are also studying relevant documents of the transaction and if they come across any evidence that indicates wrongdoing, ICICI bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar along with others could be summoned for questioning.
They said the statements of nodal officers of the ICICI, who were part of processing the loan of about ₹3,250 crore, have been recorded as part of the PE registered six weeks back.
The PE has named Videocon group promoter Venugopal Dhoot, Deepak Kochhar and unknown others, they said. A PE is a precursor before the agency lodges an FIR to probe criminal charges on the basis of evidence collected in the enquiry.
ICICI, India’s third-largest lender, has backed its CEO and said its board had “come to the conclusion that there is no question of any quid pro quo/nepotism/conflict of interest as is being alleged in various rumours”. The CBI launched a PE two months ago to assess whether nepotism or criminality were involved, the two sources said, declining to be named.
Recent reports linked the loan to a possible quid pro quo between Dhoot and Deepak Kochchar’s NuPower Renewables. ICICI Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Kochhar and Dhoot declined comment.
NEW DELHI: