The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday questioned former ICICI Bank Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (CEO&MD) Chanda Kochhar for the third time in a row in connection with the alleged irregularities in the granting of loans by the bank during her tenure. The ED also questioned Nishant Kanodia, Chairman of Matix Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. and son-in-law of Essar Group Vice Chairman Ravi Ruia, for the first time in connection with the case.

According to the ED’s officers, Ms. Kochhar and Mr. Kanodia were summoned for inquiries on Sunday morning. While Ms. Kochhar appeared for inquiries on Sunday morning, Mr. Kanodia reached in the afternoon.

“Inquiries so far indicate that, in 2010, when Ms. Kochhar was with the bank, loans amounting to $520 million were released to one of Essar’s companies based in the U.S. Shortly thereafter, a sum of ₹325 crore was paid to NuPower Renewables Private Limited, owned by Ms. Kochhar’s husband, by Firstland Holdings Limited, a Mauritius-based company owned by Mr. Kanodia,” a senior ED officer said.

The officer added that the timing of the money transfer is suspicious and similar to the alleged kickback paid to NuPower Renewables by Videocon Industries Limited (VIL) immediately after ICICI Bank released its loan amount to VIL. The ED has also named VIL Chairman Venugopal Dhoot as an accused in the case, apart from Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak.

The Income Tax (I-T) Department, too, had previously initiated a probe into the alleged association between ICICI Bank, the Essar Group and Firstland Holdings, and letters rogatory (LRs) had also been issued to facilitate speedy sharing of information, as some of the parties involved were based out of India. LRs are diplomatic tools that are used for seeking information in cases where the investigation spans across international borders.

The ED has on Saturday quizzed the Kochchars and Mr Dhoot for several hours in connection with the case. The ED, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, is working on establishing the trail of money in the case.