Chanda Kochhar's Brother-in-law Rajiv Kochhar Questioned, Not Arrested, Clarifies CBI
There were reports by media news channels in the evening that Rajiv Kochhar had been arrested but the CBI clarified that he was taken for questioning and not arrested.
Mumbai, April 5: Amid a number of media reports claiming that ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law has been arrested, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday clarified that the former was called for questioning and has not been apprehended yet. "ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law, Rajiv Kochhar, has not been arrested yet. However, he was questioned with regards to the ICICI-Videocon loan case," CBI sources confirmed on Thursday.
A few moments later, Rajiv was seen leaving the CBI office here. For those unversed, media reports earlier this month highlighted an alleged involvement of Chanda Kochhar and her family members in a loan provided to Videocon group on quid pro quo basis.
Soon after, Indian Investors Protection Council Trustee Arvind Gupta said the evidence in the case pointed out that Chanda Kochhar was herself a beneficiary of the loan, and said her husband Deepak Kochhar is an indirect beneficiary of the loan granted to Videocon.
"Venugopal Dhoot transferred money from Videocon Group to Supreme Energy, in which he had 90 percent shares. He promoted it and later transferred it to Deepak Kochhar. Deepak Kochhar then transferred his shareholdings to Pinnacle Energy. Pinnacle Energy was a trust formed by Kochhar family. Now they are saying they sold their shares of Nupower Renewables much before. NuPower Renewables was special purpose vehicle made to revert allegations in future. ICICI never gave it loan, but company was benefited," Gupta told ANI.
Thereafter, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned few ICICI Bank officials as part of a preliminary enquiry to find if any quid pro quo was involved in the bank's issuance of the Rs. 3,250-crore loan to the Videocon Group in 2012. On Tuesday, the Income Tax (IT) Department sent a notice to NuPower Renewables, owned by Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak.