ICICI Bank irregularities: CBI arrests Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested Videocon Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot in connection with its probe into ICICI Bank loan irregularities, people familiar with the development said. 

This came three days after former ICICI Bank managing director Chanda Kochhar and her husband, Deepak Kochhar, were arrested in the case.

Dhoot, who was questioned multiple times over the last four years, was arrested on the basis of documentary evidence, which allegedly showed he bribed the Kochhars for availing loans from the private bank, an officer said.

The Kochhars were being questioned in the CBI custody since their arrest on Friday.

In its First Information Report (FIR) filed in January 2019, CBI alleged there were irregularities in six high-value loans worth ₹1,875 crore disbursed to Videocon Group between June 2009 and October 2011.

The agency claimed that the Kochhars allegedly got ₹64 crore bribe from Dhoot a day after the bank disbursed a loan of ₹300 crore to Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL) in August 2009.

Chanda Kochhar stepped down from the ICICI Bank in October 2018 after allegations of irregularities surfaced against her.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which investigated the money laundering aspect of the case, filed a charge sheet in November 2020 alleging that the Kochhars and Dhoot used a web of companies to launder money received as bribe.

The ED arrested Deepak Kochhar in September 2020 before he was granted bail in March 2021.

It claimed that after ICICI Bank disbursed a loan of around ₹300 crore ( ₹283.45 crore was the actual disbursed amount) to VIEL in September 2009, ₹64 crore was transferred to Kochhar's company NuPower Renewables Ltd (NRL) through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL) the next day.

NRL was started by Dhoot and Kochhar. Though initially, Dhoot started SEPL, he later transferred its control to Deepak Kochhar.

Chanda Kochhar, according to investigators, was part of the decision-making process and chairperson/member of the recommending/sanctioning committees for loans sanctioned to Videocon Group.

The ED has said it is investigating 24 loans aggregating ₹7,862 crore that it believes ICICI Bank loaned "illegally and criminally" to the Videocon Group when Chanda Kochhar was in charge of the bank between 2009 and 2018.