KOCHHAR GETS BAIL BUT CAN’T LEAVE COUNTRY
Former ICICI Bank chief executive officer and managing director Chanda Kochhar on Friday appeared before a court in Mumbai in the ICICI Bankvideocon money laundering case, and was granted bail. It was the former banker’s first appearance in the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court. The judge granted her bail on a bond of
~5 lakh and directed that she should report to the enforcement directorate (ED) office whenever required and not leave India without the court’s permission. The court also asked her to surrender her passport to the ED immediately.
Former ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar was granted bail by a special court on Friday in connection with the Icici-videocon money laundering case. Kochhar was asked to deposit a bond of ~5 lakh and was told not to leave the country without the prior permission of the court.
“She is ready to abide by all the terms and conditions of the court. The applicant (Kochhar) is a respectable citizen and conferred Padma Bhushan award. Therefore, being permanent resident having deep roots in society, there is no apprehension that applicant will flee,” said Judge Abhijeet Nandgaonkar while grating bail.
Earlier this month, a special court of Prevention and Money Laundering Act (PMLA) agreed to proceed with the trial against Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, and others, after taking cognisance of the material evidence submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) along with the prosecution complaint or chargesheet.
The court also cited Kochhar’s January 5, 2020, petition in the Supreme Court, wherein she had requested that the court quash the case against her. Though the matter is pending the solicitor general asked the ED to refrain from taking any coercive step against Kochhar.
Meanwhile, ED has said in the chargesheet that it has found that Kochhar was instrumental in generation and acquisition of proceeds of crime. “Kochhar has committed the offence of money laundering, as defined under Section 3 of PMLA, and punishable under Section 4 of the said Act, by being actually involved and knowingly a party in acquisition of the proceeds of crime through the company of her husband (Nupower Renewables) and
her family trust (Quality Advisors) and attempted to indulge in projection of proceeds of crime as untainted property,” the federal agency said in the chargesheet, a copy of which was reviewed by Business Standard.
According to the ED, Kochhar forced Videocon group chairman Venugopal Dhoot to take care of her husband’s interest by putting money in her husband’s project. If he had not agreed to the proposal it would have been detrimental for his loan application of ~300 crore pending with ICICI Bank. Hence, Dhoot diverted ~64 crore to Nupower, the ED has said.
It has estimated the total proceeds of crime at ~78 crore (including book value of the flat). An equal amount has been provisionally attached by the agency. Meanwhile, a Letter of Request has been also issued to four countries to probe other aspects, such as suspected funds received by Nupower from Mauritiusbased Firstland Holdings.
The agency underlined that as part of design, the shareholding of Nupower held by Pacific Capital (shareholder) and was then transferred to Supreme Energy before transfer of the ~64 crore to Nupower. “She ceased to be the authorised signatory in DBS bank account of Pacific just after a week of receipt of funds from Supreme. She never disclosed her connection with Pacific to the bank,” ED has said.
The agency also said Kochhar’s posh flat in Mumbai was created with proceeds of crime, which was acquired by her family trust, Quality Advisor, from Videocon Group for a mere ~11 lakh, against a market value of ~5.28 crore in 1996. The agency arrested Deepak Kochhar last September after it filed a criminal case against Kochhar, Dhoot and others.