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Chanda Kochhar found guilty of accepting a Rs 64 crore bribe in ICICI-Videocon loan case

Chanda Kochhar found guilty of accepting a Rs 64 crore bribe in ICICI-Videocon loan case

CHENNAI: In a significant development in the ICICI Bank–Videocon loan case, the Appellate Tribunal under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA) has found former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar guilty of accepting a Rs 64 crore bribe in exchange for sanctioning a ₹300 crore loan to the Videocon Group in 2009.
The tribunal, according to reports, in its order dated July 3, 2025, established that the payment was a clear quid pro quo, linking the disbursement of the loan to benefits received by Kochhar's husband through his firm, NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd.
The tribunal overturned a previous order issued by the adjudicating authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which had in November 2020 ordered the release of assets worth Rs 78 crore belonging to Kochhar. The latest ruling described the earlier decision as flawed, stating that it was based on 'irrelevant considerations' and had 'ignored material facts.'
According to the tribunal's findings, the ₹64 crore was routed through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd into NuPower, a company owned and controlled by Deepak Kochhar, Chanda Kochhar's husband. Though NuPower was initially held in the name of Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot, the tribunal accepted Dhoot's recorded PMLA statement that it was Deepak Kochhar who maintained full control over the entity. The fund transfer took place just one day after the Rs 300 crore loan was disbursed to Videocon International Electronics Ltd.
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