The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot in connection with the alleged ICICI Bank loan fraud case of Rs1,730 crore lodged in January 2019, officials said.
Mr Dhoot was arrested in Mumbai, three days after former ICICI Bank Managing Director and CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were arrested by the agency.
Mr Dhoot was produced before a holiday court on Monday and remanded in CBI custody till Wednesday. The same court extended the CBI custody of Mr and Ms Kochhar as well. They had been remanded in CBI custody on Saturday for three days.
According to the CBI, between June 2009 and October 2011, ICICI Bank sanctioned a loan of Rs1,875 crore to six Videocon Group firms. All these loans were sanctioned after Ms Kochhar took charge at the bank. She was a member of the sanctioning committee for two loans totalling Rs1,050 crore. After disbursal of one of these loans, Mr Dhoot transferred Rs64 crore the next day to a company managed by Mr Kochhar, an amount the CBI claims was a bribe.
The Kochhars were arrested last Friday, produced in court the next day and sent to CBI custody till Dec 26. On Monday they were produced again and the CBI sought extended custody for three days. It similarly sought Mr Dhoot’s custody for three days and said it was necessary to bring the two sides face to face.
According to the CBI's first information report, the agency received a complaint in January 2019 regarding some offences that had allegedly been committed by Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL), Videocon Industries Ltd (VIL), their then directors VN Dhoot (Managing Director of the Videocon Group), Ms Kochhar, Mr Kochhar (Managing Director of Nupower Renewables Ltd) (NRL), and some other persons, cheating the bank to the tune of Rs1,730 crore.
The agency had in December 2017 conducted a preliminary enquiry (PE) on the allegation that the bank had sanctioned credit facilities of about Rs3,250 crore to five companies from the Videocon Group.
The bank officials sanctioned credit facilities to these companies in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, Reserve Bank of India guidelines, and the bank’s own credit policy.
In January 2019, the complaint was turned into an FIR on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy, illegal gratification, criminal misconduct and abuse of official position by a public servant against VIEL, VIL, Mr Dhoot, Ms Kochhar, Mr Kochhar, NRL, Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd and some unknown persons.
The FIR said it was alleged that as part of the quid pro quo deal, Mr Dhoot invested Rs64 crore in NRL through Supreme Energy and also transferred the company to the Pinnacle Energy Trust (PET) managed by Mr Kochhar through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012.
Appearing for the CBI, Prosecutor A Limosin told the court there were transactions related to Mr Dhoot which he had to be confronted with.
The court was also told that Mr Dhoot was not cooperating with the investigation and had been the ultimate beneficiary of the loan. He was evading notices and did not appear on the latest two notices of Friday and Sunday. It said a loan amount of Rs1,033 crore is outstanding.
Mr Dhoot’s advocate SS Ladda said the amount of the loan along with interest had been repaid. Regarding the amount of Rs64 crore, he said it was an investment and not a bribe.
He said he had gone to the CBI office to record his statement and told the officers he was unwell and would return on Monday, which he had done as promised. He said Mr Dhoot is over 70 years of age and has health issues.
The Kochhars’ advocate Vikram Chaudhari argued that there were procedural infractions by the CBI and mandatory approval required under the Prevention of Corruption Act had not been taken.
He said the FIR was registered in 2019 and Mr Kochhar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate and spent six months in jail before being granted bail by the Bombay High Court.
“The Supreme Court said it does not want to interfere with the High Court’s order,” he said. “The CBI maintained an eerie silence for so many years and it is most unfortunate that it has arrested them when their only son’s marriage is fixed for Jan 15. This is inhuman.”
