Former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar was granted bail by a special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court on Friday, February 12. She appeared before the Mumbai court in the ICICI Bank-Videocon loan case.
Kochhar was granted bail on a bond of Rs 5 lakh and was asked not to leave the country with the court's permission. Earlier this month, a special PMLA court said the material furnished by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was satisfactory to go ahead with a trial for money laundering against Kochhar and others, according to a report by PTI.
On January 30, the special PMLA court had summoned Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot and others accused in the case after taking cognizance of the ED's chargesheet.
"After going through the submissions, written complaints and statements recorded under PMLA, it appears that Chanda Kochhar had misused her official position in granting loan to accused Dhoot and/or Videocon group companies," Judge A A Nandgoankar said in the order that was made available later.
"And (it appears) she got illegal gratification/undue advantage through her husband... through various companies for siphoning off money and proceeds of crime," the judge further stated adding that the material furnished by the ED comprises the commission of offence, and it is "sufficient to proceed against the accused persons." All accused in the case were asked to appear before the court on February 12.
ED had apprehended Deepak Kochhar in September 2020 after it filed a criminal case for money laundering basis an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the Kochhars, Videocon's Dhoot, and others.
The federal probe agency alleged that Rs 64 crore out of a loan amount of Rs 300 crore sanctioned by a panel of ICICI Bank headed by Chanda Kochhar to Videocon International Electronics Limited was wired to Nupower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL) by Videocon Industries on September 8, 2009. The money was transferred a day after the disbursement of the loan.
NRPL, earlier known as Nupower Renewables Limited (NRL), is owned by Deepak Kochhar, the ED said.