Ex-ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar’s husband in ED custody till Sept 19
Deepak Kochhar, husband of former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, has been remanded in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till September 19 in a money laundering case.
Deepak Kochhar, husband of former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, has been remanded in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till September 19 in a money laundering case.
Deepak Kochhar was arrested by the ED on Monday under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the ICICI Bank-Videocon money laundering case probe.
The Enforcement Directorate wants to obtain more details about some fresh evidence gathered in the case filed under the anti-money laundering law in January last year.
The ED told the court of special PMLA judge Milind V Kurtadikar that on September 7, 2009, the ICICI bank sanctioned a loan worth Rs 300 crore to Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL). Deepak Kocchar’s wife Chanda Kochhar was the chairman of the bank’s sanctioning committee when this loan was given VIEL. The probe agency found that just a day after the loan was sanctioned, Rs 64 crore from the loan amount was transferred from VIEL toNupower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL), which was earlier known as NuPower Renewables Limited (NRL) and is a company of Deepak Kochhar.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh told the court that Deepak Kochhar was not cooperating in the investigation and his custodial interrogation was required to find the money trail.
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Deepak Kochhar’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal opposed the custody and told the court that his client is cooperating thoroughly and has submitted all the documents in his possession.
Considering both the arguments, special PMLA judge Milind V Kurtadikar said the case is an economic offence which requires a certain type of probe hence the accused is remanded in the ED’s custody.
The ED’s case rests on the FIR registered by the CBI against Chanda Kochhar and Deepak Kochhhar, Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot and others. The CBI slapped money laundering charges against the Kochhars for “illegal sanctioning of loans amounting to Rs 1,875 crore to the Videocon Group of companies”.
