Ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar’s Husband Granted Bail

In February this year, Chanda Kochhar was granted bail by a special court in Mumbai in the case.

Former ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar.

(File Photo: IANS)

The Bombay High Court on Thursday, 25 February, granted bail to Deepak Kochhar, the husband of ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, in connection with the ICICI-Videocon money laundering case. The case is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Deepak Kochhar was arrested in September 2020 in the case.

In February 2021, Chanda Kochhar was granted bail by a special court in Mumbai in the case.

Background

In November, the ED filed its first charge sheet in the ICICI-Videocon loan case, naming Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, Videocon group chief Venugopal Dhoot and seven firms in a money laundering case, IANS reported.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in sanctioning six loans worth Rs 1,875 crore to Videocon Industries Limited, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and four other companies associated with the Videocon group between June 2009 and October 2011.

Kochhar was terminated from the ICICI Bank months after she voluntarily left the second largest private sector lender, following the case. The high-profile former banker moved the high court on 30 November 2019, challenging termination of her employment by the ICICI Bank.

She contended that the bank also denied her remuneration and clawed back all the bonuses and stock options between April 2009 and March 2018 for her alleged role in granting out of turn loans worth Rs 3,250 crore to the Videocon Group which benefitted her husband Deepak Kochhar.