The CBI has booked former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon group MD Venugopal Dhoot in the ICICI Bank-Videocon loan case, officials said on Thursday.
The agency also carried out searches at multiple locations, including the offices of the Videocon group in Mumbai and Aurangabad, the offices of Nupower Renewables Pvt Limited, which is operated by Deepak Kochhar, and Supreme Energy after registering a case.
'It was alleged that the accused sanctioned certain loans to private companies in a criminal conspiracy with others to cheat ICICI Bank,' the CBI spokesperson said.
Dhoot allegedly invested crores of rupees in Nupower months after the Videocon group got Rs 3,250 crore as loan from ICICI Bank in 2012.
In addition to the Kochhars and Dhoot, the agency has named the companies Nupower Renewables, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Ltd as accused in the FIR. It has been registered under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the prevention of corruption act, they said.
The move comes 10 months after the CBI registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) against Dhoot, Deepak Kochhar and unidentified others in March last year, they said.
A PE is filed before the agency lodges an FIR to probe criminal charges on the basis of evidence collected during the enquiry. Thursday's FIRs means a full-blown investigation has been started by the agency after registration of a case.