Deepak Kochhar's 'funds from Mauritius' under income tax department's scrutiny
Deepak Kochhar, the founding director of NuPower Renewables, was served a notice by the Income Tax department, asking him to furnish all the details of the hundreds of crores worth of investments that he allegedly received from two Mauritius companies. Deepak, who is married to ICICI Bank MD-CEO Chanda Kochhar, has also been asked to name the directors of these firms. Here's more.
CBI is also probing Kochhar, Dhoot over controversial dealings
Notably, the CBI is already investigating the investments made by Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot in Kochhar's NuPower Renewables. Last week, the central investigating body had filed a preliminary inquiry against ICICI Bank's officials over a loan of Rs. 3,250 crore that it granted to the Videocon group. Interestingly, Videocon had loaned a total of Rs. 40,000 crore from a consortium of 12 banks.
Quid pro quo between Dhoot and the Kochhars?
Dhoot is under the CBI scanner for non-repayment of loans and his claims that they turned into non-performing assets. The CBI is also looking into the allegations of favoritism or quid pro quo since Chanda Kochhar was part of the committee that decided to lend Videocon Rs. 40,000 crore. Post the bank deal, Dhoot reportedly invested in Kochhar's NuPower Renewables.
Dhoot, ICICI Bank rubbish claims of wrongdoing
Despite the rising suspicions, Dhoot has rubbished all claims of a quid pro quo with the Kochhars, his alleged investments of Rs. 64 crore in NuPower Renewables or transferring the company money through firms in Mauritius. ICICI Bank has also dismissed all suspicions against Chanda Kochhar in sanctioning the massive loan to Videocon, saying it has "full faith" in her.
