It was then that Chanda Kochhar finally stepped down and resigned. However, to date, she and her husband have denied any wrongdoing.
Former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were produced before the Mumbai special court by the CBI on Saturday, December 24. In a case related to alleged irregularities in loans provided to Venugopal Dhootās Videocon Group, the court granted the CBI custody of the couple till Monday (December 26). The couple was arrested on Friday.
The rise of Chanda Kochhar
Kochhar who began her journey at ICICI as a trainee rose through the ranks in the bank. The company from a small financial services institution went on to become one of Indiaās largest lenders and a private financial behemoth that changed the face of the banking sector in the country.
Through the early 2000s,Ā Kochhar received various big projects as ICICI tried to set itself apart in a still nascent market.
Finally, in 2009, she beat several other contenders to get the Bankās top job. Throughout her tenure, the defining feature of her leadership had been her control over the business and her attention to detail. She also meticulously curated a public image of herself.
In 2010, the biggest honour was bestowed upon her by the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government when Kochhar was awarded the Padma Bhushan, Indiaās highest civilian award, for achievements in the field of business.
Chanda Kochhar also featured in Forbes Internationalās āThe Worldās 100 Most Powerful Womenā list for seven years on the trot and was also named among TIME magazineās ā100 Most Influential Peopleā in the world in 2015.
The Downfall:
There had been murmurs about Kochharās conflict of interest as far back as 2016. However, it was only in 2018 that the story started getting traction.
While initially, ICICIās board rubbished all the allegations against her, persistent media scrutiny and questions from investors forced the bank to set up an inquiry to investigate if the bankās policies regarding conflict of interest and internal lending had been violated.
It was then that Chanda Kochhar finally stepped down and resigned. However, to date, she and her husband have denied any wrongdoing.
However, Independent banking circles claim that the ICICI Bank reported the maximum NPAs during Chanda’s tenure, and as per an RTI response received by a Pune-based RTI activist Prafful Sarda, it had accumulated up to a staggering around Rs 200,000 crore till 2021.
What is the Videocon loan case?
The allegation against Kochhar is simple: she and her family received various kickbacks over her tenure in lieu of loans provided to the Videocon group, many of which would eventually turn into non-performing assets (NPAs).
In 2019, the Enforcement Directorate said thatĀ Deepak Kochharās NuPower Renewables received funding of ā¹ 64 crores through a maze of shell companies from Venugopal Dhootās Videocon group. This came only weeks after the Videocon group got a ā¹ 3,250 crore loan from ICICI Bank.
It is alleged that six loans worth ā¹ 1,875 crores were sanctioned for the Videocon Group and its associated companies in the period of 2009-11 when Chanda Kochhar was at the bankās helm.
Almost all of these loans became non-performing assets, causing a loss of ā¹ 1,730 crores to the bank.
In 2019, the probe agency registered a criminal case of money laundering against the Kochhars, Dhoot, and some others.
Chanda Kochharās role in clearing the loans
CBI claimed that the loan was cleared by a committee of which Kochhar was a member. The investigation agency said that she misused her official position and āgot illegal gratification/undue benefit through her husband from Dhoot for sanctioning loans to Videocon.ā
Denying the allegations, Chanda Kochhar had said in a statement āI reiterate that none of the credit decisions at the bank is unilateralā¦ the organization design and structure obviate the possibility of conflict of interest.ā
Speaking to India TV in 2019, Deepak Kochhar asked: “Where is the conflict of interest? ICICI Bank will have relationships with all top corporates in India. If I canāt touch any corporate that deals with ICICI, is it fair to me? Can I function like this? I am a Bajaj MBA and a Harvard alumnus. I am an educated professional. Should I sit at home just because my wife is the CEO of ICICI?ā
In the latest development to the case, the CBI has today arrested Videocon Groupās co-founder and CEO Venugopal Dhoot. The CBI has also accused the Kochhar couple of non-cooperation in the investigation.
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