The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has provisionally attached Rs781.50mn 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 the ED, the asset attachment is under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA) in the ICICI Bank loan case.
The assets attached are flats, land, cash, plant and machinery/windfarm projects in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra totalling Rs.781.50mn.
The ED said its probe had revealed that loans were refinanced and new loan aggregating to Rs17,300mn 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 amount of Rs640mn, out of the loan of Rs3,000mn 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 Rs106.50mn were generated by NRL from these tainted funds.
Therefore, proceeds of crime amounting to Rs746.50mn were transferred to/generated in NRPL. Investigation also revealed that Chanda Kochhar and her family acquired the apartment at Mumbai owned by one of the Videocon group companies, by way of acquiring that company through her family trust at a nominal price by creating book entries.
Accordingly, assets amounting to Rs745.40mn held in the name of Nupower Renewables Pvt Ltd, its subsidiaries, the flat located at Mumbai (book value of Rs35mn), and amount of Rs1.5mn already seized by ED from company of Deepak Kochhar, totalling to Rs781.50mn being proceeds of crime have been provisionally attached by ED under PMLA.
Further investigation in this case is progressing.