Ex-ICIC Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's Properties Worth Rs 78 Cr Seized By ED In Money Laundering Case

The provisionally attached properties of former ICICI Bank MD include an apartment owned by her in Mumbai and those belonging to a company owned by her husband, Deepak Kochhar.

Former ICICI Bank CEO, MD Chanda Kochhar. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday temporarily attached properties worth Rs 78 crore of the former ICICI Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chanda Kochhar and other, as a part of an investigation into an alleged bank loan fraud and money laundering case. According to reports, a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been issued for attachment of the properties that includes Kochhar's Mumbai-based house and some other assets belonging to a company linked to her. Sources have also informed that the provisionally attached properties of former ICICI Bank MD include an apartment owned by her in Mumbai and those belonging to a company owned by her husband, Deepak Kochhar. Kochhar had on Monday skipped questioning by the ED in connection with an ongoing Rs 1,875-crore Videocon loan case, citing poor health. Kochhar, who was summoned by the ED to appear before it on June 10, informed the agency that she would not be able to join the probe due to poor health, a senior ED official told IANS requesting anonymity. Last month, Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were questioned five times by the financial probe agency in the national capital. The case relates to the alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in the sanction of a Rs 1,875-crore loan disbursed by ICICI Bank to the Videocon Group between 2009 and 2011. The ED alleges that Kochhar, while heading ICICI Bank, illegally routed crores of rupees to NuPower Renewables Ltd, a company run by her husband. In March 2019, the ED searched the residence and office premises of Kochhars and also questioned them along with Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot. Dhoot allegedly invested in NuPower Renewables Ltd through his firm Supreme Energy as quid pro quo for the loans cleared by ICICI Bank. A large portion of the total Rs 40,000 crore loans to Videocon Group remained unpaid at the end of 2017, and the bank proceeded to declare Rs 2,810 crore of these loans as non-performing asset (NPA).