The Enforcement Directorate has attached properties worth over £7.8 million of former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar, accusing the banker of money laundering in a case pertaining to “illegal sanctioning of loans” of £187.5 million to Videocon Group of companies.
“Investigation revealed that £6.4 million, out of the loan of £30 million sanctioned by a committee headed by Chanda Kochhar to Videocon International Electronics Limited, was transferred to Nupower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL), a company of Deepak Kochhar) by Videocon on September 8, 2009, just one day after disbursement of loan by ICICI Bank,” the ED statement said.
The ED claimed that net revenue of £1.06 million was generated by NRL from these tainted funds. “Therefore, proceeds of crime amounting to £7.46 million were transferred/generated in NRPL,” the ED said. Investigations also revealed that Chanda Kochhar and her family acquired an apartment in Mumbai owned by one of the Videocon Group companies, “acquiring that company through her family trust at a nominal price and by creating book entries”.
The total attachment includes Rs 105,000 already seized by the agency from Kochhar’s company. The other attached assets include windfarm projects located in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra “in possession of accused Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar” and the companies owned and controlled by Deepak Kochhar, the ED said. The agency said the loans to the Videocon Group were refinanced and new loan aggregating to £173 million was sanctioned to its group companies which later turned non-performing assets (NPA) for the ICICI Bank.
