ICICI loan case: CBI questions Nupower Renewables CFO

ICICI loan case: CBI questions Nupower Renewables CFO

CBI Headquarters. (File Photo: IANS)

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) The CBI on Wednesday questioned a NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd official in connection with the Rs 3,250-crore loan to the Videocon Group in 2012, an official said.

The agency quizzed company CFO and Head of Corporate Finance Sunil Bhuta at its headquarters here.

Bhuta, a chartered accountant, was responsible for handling the overall finance, accounts, audit and taxation functions for NuPower since its inception.

Informed sources said ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon Group chief Venugopal Dhoot could also be called for questioning after examination of documents of the loan and statements in the case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had, on April 12, examined two company Directors Mahesh Chandra Punglia and Umanath Vainkut Nayak.

Punglia is an aide of Dhoot. NuPower Renewables was formed by Deepak Kochhar and Dhoot in December 2008.

Earlier, the central agency had questioned Rajiv Kochhar, brother-in law of Chanda Kochhar, for five consecutive days.

The agency had registered a preliminary inquiry against Deepak Kochhar, Videocon Group officials and others to determine any wrongdoing or otherwise in the sanction of the loan to the Videocon group by the ICICI Bank as part of the consortium of banks in 2012.

Chanda Kochhar, who is facing questions of conflict of interest in the case, has not been named in the preliminary inquiry, which was registered after news reports raised questions about the Videocon Chairman giving a loan of Rs 64 crore to a firm he had jointly promoted with Deepak Kochhar, six months after his group got the Rs 3,250 crore loan.

--IANS

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