Former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar have moved the Bombay High Court challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) attachment of their properties in a money laundering case linked to the Videocon loan scam. ED has attached Rs 70 crore worth of properties of Chanda Kochhar and husband. They have approached the Court against the order of the Appellate Tribunal under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA), which upheld the ED’s attachment.
The matter was listed on Wednesday before a Bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Shyam C Chandak, which granted time to the ED to file its reply. The matter will be heard next on December 16. According to Kochhars, the attachment by the ED was in excess of the prescribed procedure.
The proceedings arose from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case alleging that loans worth Rs 1,730 crore were sanctioned to various Videocon Group companies between 2009 and 2011 when Chanda Kochhar was the bank’s chief. Her husband was caught for taking kickbacks from Videocon for allotting loans. The loans later turned into non-performing assets, allegedly causing losses to ICICI Bank. After the loan was disbursed, Rs 64 crore was transferred by Videocon to Nupower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL), a firm owned by Deepak Kochhar.
