ICICI-Videocon row: Rajeev Kochhar's brother-in-law summoned for investigation

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday (CBI) summoned Rajeev Kochhar's brother-in-law Mahesh Pugalia for interrogation in the ICICI Bank-Videocon case. Rajeev Kochhar is the brother-in-law of ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar.

The CBI also called in Umanath Venkat Naik, the Director of NuPower Renewables, a joint venture between Videocon and Chanda Kochhar's husband, Deepak Kochhar.

Pugalia, is reported as a close aide of Videocon Group chief Venugopal Dhoot.

Last month, Chanda Kochhar and her family members were allegedly named in a case where a loan was provided to the Videocon group on quid pro quo basis in 2012. Soon after, Indian Investors Protection Council Trustee Arvind Gupta said the evidence in the case pointed out that Chanda Kochhar was herself a beneficiary of the loan, and her husband Deepak Kochhar is an indirect beneficiary of the loan granted to Videocon.

"Venugopal Dhoot transferred money from the Videocon Group to Supreme Energy, in which he had 90 percent shares. He promoted it and later transferred it to Deepak Kochhar. Deepak Kochhar then transferred his shareholdings to Pinnacle Energy. Pinnacle Energy was a trust formed by Kochhar family. Now they are saying they sold their shares of NuPower Renewables much before. NuPower Renewables was a special purpose vehicle made to revert allegations in the future. ICICI never gave it a loan, but the company was benefited," Gupta told media.

The Income Tax (IT) department, last week, had sent a notice to NuPower Renewables, owned by Chanda Kochhar's husband. Meanwhile, the CBI also questioned few ICICI Bank officials as part of a preliminary inquiry to find if any quid pro quo was involved in the bank's issuance of the Rs. 3,250-crore loan to the Videocon Group in 2012.

(With inputs from agencies)