CBI officer probing Chanda Kochhar case transferred after suspected leaks, say sources

The CBI officer-in-charge who lodged FIR in the alleged irregularities pertaining to the sanctioning of loans by the ICICI bank has been transferred out. The development took place a day after CBI booked former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar, her husband and others in the case.

Sudhanshu Dhar Mishra, who was Superintendent of Police (SP) of Banking and Securities Fraud Cell of CBI, Delhi, was transferred to CBI’s Economic Offences Branch in Ranchi, Jharkhand.He had signed FIR against Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, Venugopal Dhoot and others on January 22 in connection with ICICI-Videocon case.

After the case was registered, searches were proposed to be conducted immediately. However, the possibility of information about searches being leaked was suspected, ANI reported quoting sources in the agency. According to the sources, a discreet inquiry was conducted and the role of Mishra was strongly suspected.

After he was transferred out, searches were conducted under the supervision of Mohit Gupta, SP (CBI).  A detailed inquiry into the matter is pending. The role of Sudhanshu Dhar Mishra in keeping the case pending and other persons if any is also been looked into, according to the sources.

On January 24, CBI booked former Chanda Kochhar, her businessman husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon MD Venugopal Dhoot in a case of alleged irregularities in the sanctioning of loans by the ICICI bank.

Kochhar had quit the ICICI on October 4 last year in the wake of allegations that she had favoured Videocon in the lending processes because the consumer electronics company’s founders had invested in a company of her husband Deepak Kochhar.

The CBI filed cases against the three along with some others after conducting raids at four premises in Maharashtra, the investigating agency had said.

The preliminary enquiry apparently showed that from June 2009 to October 2011, ICICI Bank had allegedly sanctioned six high-value loans to various Videocon Group companies, CBI sources said.

Chanda Kochhar had taken over the post of the Managing Director of the ICICI Bank on May 1, 2009.

The companies M/S Nupower Renewables Limited (NRL) and M/S Supreme Energy Private Limited (SEPL) have also been named in the case registered by CBI.

It is alleged that SEPL was initially incorporated by Dhoot and his associate Vasant Kakade and the ownership of the company was later transferred to Deepak Kochhar by selling the shares of the company to Pinnacle Energy Trust (PET) which was owned by Kochhar.

It was also alleged that Dhoot had invested a large amount of funds in Deepak Kochhar-owned Nupower months after the Videocon group received Rs 3,250 crore as loan from the ICICI Bank in 2012.