ED attaches Rs 78-cr worth assets of Chanda Kochhar

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets of former ICICI CEO Chanda Kochchar and her family worth Rs 78.15 crore, including a Rs 3.5 crore flat in Mumbai, in connection with a money laundering case.

The assets provisionally attached under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) consists of the flat, land, seized cash, plant and machinery, including Windfarm Projects located in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, which are in the name of Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and the companies owned or controlled by Deepak Kochhar.

The ED had initiated investigation following CBI registering a case against Kochchars in January last year on charges of illegally sanctioning loans worth Rs 1,875 crore to Videocon Group of companies.

According to the ED, loans were refinanced and new loan aggregating to Rs 1,730 crore was sanctioned to Videocon Industries Limited (VIL) and its group companies and these loans became Non Performing Assets (NPA) in June 2017.

Out of the loan of Rs 300 crore sanctioned by a committee headed by Chanda Kochhar to Videocon International Electronics Limited, the ED said, its investigations found that Rs 64 crore was transferred to Nupower Renewables Pvt Ltd, a company of Deepak Kochhar, just one day after disbursement of loan by ICICI Bank.

"Further, net revenue of Rs 10.65 crore was generated by NRL from these tainted funds. Therefore, proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 74.65 crores were transferred to/generated in NRPL. Investigation also revealed that Chanda Kochhar and her family acquired the apartment at Mumbai owned by one of the Videocon group Companies, by way of acquiring that company through her family trust at a nominal price by creating book entries," the ED said.

"Accordingly, assets amounting to Rs 74.54 crore held in the name of Nupower Renewables Pvt Ltd and its subsidiaries, flat located at Mumbai (book value of Rs. 3.5 crores) and amount of Rs 10.5 lakh already seized by ED from company of Deepak Kochhar, totalling to Rs 78.15 crores being proceeds of crime have been provisionally attached by ED under PMLA," it said.