ICICI Bank Fraud Case: Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot Arrested

Mumbai, 26th December 2022: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today arrested Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot in the ICICI Bank fraud case. Earlier, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICICI, Chanda Kochhar, and her husband, Deepak Kochhar, were arrested.

Dhoot has been arrested in Mumbai after questioning Kochhar. The CBI will later produce them before the special CBI court in Mumbai. The investigating agency will demand his custodial remand. Dhoot was alleged to have sanctioned credit facilities of about Rs 3,250 crore to Trend Electronics Limited, Century Appliances Limited, Cal Limited, Value Industries Limited and Evan Fraser & Company India Limited by ICICI Bank Limited.

The allegations were that Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in Nupower Renewables Limited (NRL) through Supreme Energy Private Limited (SEPL) and wrongfully transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust, managed by Deepak Kochhar. Allegedly, officials of ICICI Bank Limited sanctioned credit facilities to these companies in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines and the bank’s credit policy.

The fraud took place between 2010 and 2012. In this connection, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Saturday, arrested the former CEO and MD of ICICI Bank and her husband.