CBI arrests Videocon Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot in ICICI loan fraud case

The CBI had taken into custody Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak alleging that they were not cooperating with the investigation and giving evasive replies

Days after taking into custody Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar, the CBI on Monday arrested Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot following an investigation into "illegally" sanctioning loans worth Rs 3,250 crore to Videocon Group of companies by ICICI Bank.

Dhoot (71) was apprehended from Mumbai after questioning in the morning, officials said, adding that the agency is working on filing a charge sheet against the Kochhars and the Videocon founder.

Chanda Kocchar, the disgraced former ICICI CEO, and her husband were apprehended after the agency claimed that they were not cooperating with the investigation.

The Kochhars and Dhoot, along with companies Nupower Renewables (NRL) managed by Deepak Kochhar, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd, and Videocon Industries Limited were named in the CBI FIR in which sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act in 2019 were invoked.

The ICICI Bank had sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crore to the companies of Videocon Group in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines, and credit policy of the bank, the CBI alleged.

The CBI had claimed that Dhoot gave Rs 64 cr in 2010 as quid pro quo to NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd through a fully-owned firm he had set up with Deepak Kochhar and two of his relatives. It was also claimed that Dhoot transferred ownership of the company to a trust owned by Deepak six months later for Rs 9 lakh after he received the loan from ICICI.

The investigators claimed that Chanda Kochar was instrumental in sanctioning these loans "dishonestly by abusing her official position". She had claimed that she was not aware of any pecuniary transactions between her husband and Dhoot.

According to the CBI, Chanda lived in a flat without paying any consideration during the period she dealt with the loan proposal of Videocon Group as part of another quid pro quo. In 2016, the flat, valued at Rs 5.25 crore in 1996, was transferred to Quality Advisor, a family trust of Deepak Kochhar, for a meagre amount of Rs 11 lakh, the CBI claimed.

Deepak Kochhar is also accused of concealing vital facts and not cooperating with the investigation.