CBI questions Rajiv Kochhar for third day in Videocon loan case

The questioning of Rajiv Kochhar, ICICI Bank managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar’s brother-in-law, by the CBI started on the third consecutive day on Saturday in connection with the banks Rs 3,250 crore loan to Videocon Group in 2012, officials here said.

Kochhar, the founder of Singapore-based Avista Advisory, appeared at the agency’s office in the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai this morning, where he was asked about the role of his company in the restructuring of the loan, they said.

He was asked about the help he extended to Videocon in relation to the loan from ICICI Bank, which was part of a Rs 400-billion credit given by a consortium of 20 banks to the group of Venugopal Dhoot.

He was detained at the Mumbai airport on Thursday, as he was trying to board a flight for a South East Asian country, on the request of the CBI, they said.

The deal recently made news after reports questioned the loan and linked it to a possible quid pro quo that Dhoot allegedly had with NuPower Renewables, a company founded by Deepak Kochhar, Chanda Kochhar’s husband and Rajiv Kochhar’s brother.

The CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry against Videocon founder Venugopal Dhoot and Deepak Kochhar and unidentified others, they said.

A preliminary inquiry is the first step by the CBI to gather information about the allegations. If the agency is convinced there exists prima facie material in the matter, it may register a regular case against the accused.

Mahesh Chandra Pugalia, a close aide of Videocon Group chief Venugopal Dhoot,was also questioned by the CBI on Saturday.

According to CBI officials, Pugalia was previously an employee of Videocon Group and then used to offer consultancy services to it.

He is also a director in NuPower Renewables Private Limited, the company formed by ICICI CEO MD and CEO’s husband Deepak Kocchar and Dhoot in 2008.