ICICI Bank-Videocon case: Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law being questioned by CBI

In yet another blow to ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, her brother-in-law Rajiv Kochhar is now being questioned by the CBI in Mumbai. The agency has filed a preliminary inquiry against Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot.

Rajiv Kochhar had rubbished speculation that his business was built around his proximity to his sister-in-law and said his Avista Advisory deals only with international investors and not domestic banks. “As a family rule, we don’t work with each other,” Rajiv Kochhar had told The Economic Times in an interview. “And frankly, we cannot, because it’s a big conflict. I never had any dealings with NuPower Renewables. We have a full-fledged compliance process in our company and this is something that will never pass that. I can never do it. I never ever had any business dealings with Chanda Kochhar as well."

Meanwhile, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is awaiting the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ (MCA) nod to probe ICICI Bank’s Rs 3250 crore loan to the Videocon group in 2012. The agency wants to take up the investigation as “the quantum involved is several thousand crores” and it concerns “public money”, a source had told Moneycontrol.