ED summons Chanda Kochhar, husband in ICICI-Videocon case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar next week here in connection with a money laundering case related to a bank loan fraud, officials said.

They said while Chanda has been summoned for May 3, Deepak and his brother Rajiv have been asked to depose on April 30 before the investigating officer of the case and record their statements under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).  The summons were served to them last week, they added.  They are required to assist the IO in taking the probe forward, they said, adding the three have been asked to bring certain documents related to their personal and official finances.

They have been questioned in the past too at the Enforcement Directorate office in Mumbai after the central agency conducted raids in this case on March 1. The searches were conducted at the premises of Chanda Kochhar, her family and Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Group in Mumbai and Aurangabad.

The ED had registered a criminal case under the PMLA early this year against Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, Dhoot and others to probe alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in sanctioning of ₹1,875-crore loans by ICICI Bank to the corporate group. This was based on a CBI FIR.  The CBI has named all the three and Dhoot’s companies — Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL) and Videocon Industries Limited (VIL). The CBI also named Supreme Energy, a company founded by Dhoot, and NuPower Renewables, a company controlled by Deepak Kochhar, in the FIR.