Chanda Kochhar was given clean chit by board for other loans

MUMBAI: Former ICICI Bank chief executive Chanda Kochhar’s indictment by the Justice Srikrishna panel is for a completely different set of loans and not that for which she was exonerated by the previous board headed by MK Sharma, said two people familiar with the matter.The committee’s findings on the violation of the lender’s code of conduct pertained to loans where ICICI Bank was the lone lender and not part of a consortium that had sanctioned those loans, said the people, who did not want to be identified.The clean chit provided to her in 2016 was based on a report prepared by law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, and it did not cover the loans that were mentioned in the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).“We gave her a clean chit in regard to the loan that was given out by the consortium,’’ said one of the persons above. “When we got the first whistle blower complaint, it was only the consortium loan. Subsequently, a second round of charges came in that were not covered by the internal inquiry we conducted."ICICI Bank’s board on Wednesday sacked Kochhar for violating the company’s code of conduct in respect to conflict of interest. The board also ordered clawing back of all the bonuses, stock options and other financial entitlements running into crores of rupees.Kochhar was accused by a whistle-blower that she favoured the Videocon Group with loans. It was alleged there was a quid pro quo deal where her husband Deepak Kochhar benefited from business with the Videocon Group.The first set of charges was that she did not recuse herself from the bank’s credit committee that sanctioned a loan of Rs 3,250 crore to the Videocon Group in 2012. When the charges of favouritism came up, the then chairman Sharma conducted an inquiry and declared that he was satisfied that Kochhar did not violate any rules. This loan had about 20 banks in a consortium.Videocon’s promoter Venugopal Dhoot was one of the first investors in NuPower Renewables, promoted by Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar in 2008. Dhoot subsequently sold his stake but companies controlled by him or associates close to him maintained a relationship with NuPower until early 2013, when its control was finally transferred to a trust controlled by Deepak Kochhar for a small sum.But the CBI in its FIR last week listed out other loans where she could have indulged in criminal conspiracy that led to losses to the bank.The CBI FIR alleged that Chanda Kochhar had “illegal gratification through her husband, Deepak Kochhar, from Videocon MD VN Dhoot for sanctioning a term loan of Rs 300 crore to Videocon International Electronics Ltd.” This apart, her alleged role in influencing disbursal decisions in relevant committees of the bank was also brought under the scanner.“On August 26, 2009, a rupee term loan of Rs 300 crore was sanctioned to Videocon International Electronics Ltd (VIEL) in contravention of rules and policy by the sanctioning committee… Kochhar was one of the members of the sanctioning committee, who in criminal conspiracy… dishonestly by abusing her official position sanctioned this loan in favour of VIEL,” the FIR said.The loan to VIEL was disbursed on September 7, 2009, and the next day, an entity linked to Dhoot transferred Rs 64 crore to NuPower Renewables, managed by Deepak Kochhar. This was the first major capital received by NRL to acquire its first power plant, the FIR said.Former directors said that the indictment is for the loans that were extended in 2009 rather than the 2012 disbursement.

from Economic Times http://bit.ly/2SgX8lG