A New Fraud Case Against Chanda Kochhar Former ICICI MD
(Judicial Quest News Network)
New Delhi: A new case of fraud has been filed against Chanda Kochhar former Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank, in National Capital.
The case is dating back to 2009; the case became prominent recently after the Patiala House court issued an order on December 9, 2023, instructing the Delhi Police to begin an investigation.
This new legal controversy accuses her and ten others of cheating a tomato paste company, resulting in a loss of Rs.27 crore.
The complainant Mr Shammi Aluwalia owns a company under the registered brand name “P &R” and “Tomato Magic” an All-India supplier of the Tomato paste to the President’s house and other government Institutions, Industrial Houses, 5-Star and Luxury Hotels, Flight Kitchens and various others out-lets.
The FIR contends that the accused with a pre-planned conspiracy ruined the company and its promoters/directors.
The FIR named Chanda Kochhar, Sandeep Bakshi (CEO and MD ICICI Bank), Vijay Zagade (ICICI bank’s ex-Manager), unnamed official of ICICI bank, Global trade services unit in Mumbai, Atul Kumar Goyal (MD & CEO Punjab National Bank), K K Bordia (ex-General manager Oriental bank of Commerce), Akhila Sinha (AGM PNB and the Branch Head of the OBC), Manoj Saxena (AGM PNB and then branch head of the OBC), and K K Bhatia (ex-Chief manager OBC).
The FIR was lodged stating that accused allegedly conspired to give a ‘Letter of Credit’ (LoC), from a foreign bank as a genuine document. The LoC is an important document for an export order of tomato paste and was purportedly issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), however, it was later revealed to be from a local Russian Bank called RBS Alliance, known for its dubious reputation.
Earlier Chanda Kochhar and her husband along with Videocon group promoter Venugopal Dhoot, faced arrest by the CBI. According to the CBI, during Kochhar’s tenure as CEO, credit facilities totalling approximately Rs. 3,250 crore were approved for Videocon group of Companies.
CBI contends that the sanctioning such a huge amount violated RBI rules and went against ICICI Bank’s policy. The charges included the violation of banking code of conduct, ethics and corporate governance norms.
The fresh case against her and ten others dates back to 2009, but recently after the orders issued by the Patial House Court the Economic Offence Wing of the Delhi Police officially registered an FIR on December 20, 2023, citing allegations of cheating and criminal conspiracy.
The case was filed and Argued by Senior Advocate Rohit Priya Ranjan
