The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has provisionally attached ₹78.15 crore worth movable and immovable assets in possession of ICICI Bank's former Managing Director and CEO, Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and the companies owned/controlled by him.
According to ED, the asset attachment in the ICICI Bank loan case is under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA).
The assets attached are flats, land, cash, plant and machinery/windfarm projects in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra totaling ₹78.15 crore.
The ED said its probe had revealed that loans were refinanced and new loans aggregating to ₹1,730 crore sanctioned to Videocon Industries Ltd (VIL) and its group companies and these loans became non-performing assets (NPA) for ICICI Bank on June 30, 2017.
Investigation further revealed that ₹64 crore, out of loan amount of ₹300 crore sanctioned by a committee headed by Chanda Kochhar to Videocon International Electronics Ltd, was transferred to Nupower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL, earlier known as NuPower Renewables Ltd, a company of Deepak Kochhar) by VIL on September 8, 2009, just one day after disbursement of loan by the ICICI Bank.
Further, net revenue of ₹10.65 crore was generated by NRL from these tainted funds. Therefore, proceeds of crime amounting to ₹74.65 crore were transferred to/generated in NRPL.
Investigation also revealed that Chanda Kochhar and her family acquired the apartment owned by one of the Videocon group companies at Mumbai, by acquiring that company through her family trust at a nominal price by creating book entries.
Accordingly, assets amounting to ₹ 74.54 crores held in the name of Nupower Renewables Pvt. Ltd, its subsidiaries, the flat located at Mumbai (book value of ₹ 3.5 crores), and amount of ₹ 10.5 lakh already seized by ED from the company of Deepak Kochhar, totalling ₹ 78.15 crores are proceeds of the crime that have been provisionally attached by ED under PMLA.
Further investigation in this case is under progress.
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