Deepak Kochhar was arrested on Monday over alleged money laundering
Deepak Kochhar, the husband of former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, has been sent to 10-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate for alleged money-laundering. Mr Kochhar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate yesterday after nine hours of questioning.
He was produced before an anti-corruption court in Mumbai before he was sent to the Enforcement Directorate's custody till September 19.
The probe agency has not summoned Chanda Kochhar.
"Deepak Kochhar has not been cooperating with the investigation, so his custodial interrogation was needed," a person involved in the investigation told NDTV, asking not to be named.
In 2012, ICICI Bank under Ms Kochhar gave a loan of Rs 3,250 crore to Videocon Group. Six months later, industrialist Venugopal Dhoot's Supreme Energy gave a loan of Rs 64 crore to NuPower Renewables, in which Mr Kochhar has 50 per cent stake. Investigators have said this Rs 64 crore was quid pro quo.
Ms Kochhar quit as ICICI CEO nearly two years ago due to the investigation. The Kochhars have denied all charges against them.
In its request seeking Mr Kochhar's custody, the Enforcement Directorate said he had been "totally non-cooperative, evasive and misleading during the investigation".
Last year, the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches on Ms Kochhar's properties and those linked to Videocon. Videocon's managing director has also denied any wrongdoing.
In January this year, ICICI Bank filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking recovery of bonuses given to Ms Kochhar. Ms Kochhar had challenged the "termination" of her employment by the country's second-largest private bank last year, which had blocked her remuneration over allegations of granting "out-of-turn" loans.