It's just a good beginning: Whistleblower on FIR against Chanda Kochhar in ICICI-Videocon loan case

Whistleblower Arvind Gupta, who exposed the alleged Videocon loan fraud, on Thursday expressed satisfaction over cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against former CEO and MD of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar for criminal conspiracy.

"I think this is just a good beginning of the investigation. Its roots will go further deep and outside India also. I want the government to see how few companies in India are getting money from abroad. Whose money is this? Chanda Kochhar is just a tip of the iceberg. The situation is the same in all the banks. I feel all the corrupt bankers will now think 10 times before doing something wrong," Gupta told ANI here.

"The bad condition of banking today is because of favouritism and corruption. Not only Chanda Kochhar, but there are also many people in the organisation who should be looked into. I cannot give a clean chit to independent directors, the board of director and even the chairman. The entire ICICI team from top to bottom needs to be investigated," he added.

Along with Chanda Kochhar and her husband, CBI has also booked V N Dhoot, MD of Videocon Group, M/s. Nupower Renewables Ltd. (NRL), M/s. Supreme Energy Pvt. Ltd. (SEPL), M/s. Videocon International Electronics Ltd. (VIEL), M/s. Videocon Industries Ltd. (VIL), among others.

Cases were filed under Section 120-B read with 420 and some other sections of the IPC as raids were conducted by the investigative agency in four places in Mumbai and Aurangabad, the CBI said.

It was alleged that the accused sanctioned certain loans to private companies in a criminal conspiracy with other accused to cheat ICICI Bank.

CBI had registered preliminary enquiry against Deepak Kochhar, and Venugopal Dhoot, chairman of Videocon group, to investigate irregularities in the Rs 40,000 crore loan granted by a consortium of lenders.

Chanda Kochhar has been accused of misusing her position in the company after she allegedly provided a Rs. 3,250 crore loan to the Videocon group on quid pro quo basis in 2012.