In 2018, Chanda Kochhar resigned from her job at ICICI Bank owing to a conflict of interest. Kochhar is accused of money laundering. On December 23, 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Chanda and her husband on suspicion of loan fraud. Here are the specifics of what the two accomplished, as well as an explanation of the situation.
What Did Chanda Kochhar and Deepak Kochhar Do When They Were Arrested?
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Chanda Kochhar, the former CEO and MD of ICICI Bank, and her husband Deepak Kochhar were detained in connection with the suspected loan fraud case. On Saturday, December 24, the CBI brought the husband and wife before the Mumbai special court. In a case involving suspected irregularities in loans issued to Venugopal Dhoot’s Videocon Group, the court ordered the CBI to keep the couple in prison till Monday.
They were apprehended by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) on Friday. As previously stated, the former MD and CEO were arrested in connection with a money laundering case involving the bank and the Videocon Group. The accusation leveled against Kocchar is that she and her family collected various kickbacks for loans granted to the Videocon Company during her tenure.
The Enforcement Directorate said in 2019 that Venugopal Dhoot’s Videocon company contributed 64 crores in money to Deepak Kochhar’s NuPower Renewables via a network of front companies. This occurred only a few weeks after the Videocon company obtained a 3,250 crore loan from ICICI Bank.
Between 2009 and 2011, while Chanda Kochhar was in charge of the bank, six loans totalling 1,875 crores were issued for the Videocon Group and its connected firms. These loans were on the verge of becoming non-performing assets, costing the bank 1,730 crores. In 2019, the Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering complaint against Dhoot, Kochhar, and a few others.
The Conflict of Interest of Chanda Kocchar
There were allegations of Chanda Kochhar’s conflict of interest as early as 2016. However, the story didn’t truly take off until 2018. ICICI’s board first denied all allegations leveled against the previous MD. Nonetheless, after extensive media attention and investor queries, the bank was forced to start an investigation to establish if its conflict of interest and internal lending standards had been violated. The previous CEO subsequently submitted her resignation. Her and her husband, on the other hand, have always denied any misconduct.
Chanda Kochhar’s Academic Background
Chanda Kochhar was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, to a Hindu Sindhi family. She received her schooling from St. Angela Sophia School in Jaipur. She moved to Mumbai and attended Jai Hind College before graduating from the University of Mumbai with a bachelor of business.
After graduating in 1982 and studying cost accounting at the Institute of Cost Accountants of India, she received a master’s degree in management studies at the University of Mumbai’s Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.
She received the J. N. Bose Gold Medal in Cost Accounting as well as the Wockhardt Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Management Studies. Deepak Kochhar, a wind energy entrepreneur, and Chanda Kochhar have been married for a long period. The Kochhars have two children, a girl and a boy.
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