Mumbai: Arvind Gupta, who blew the lid of the alleged Rs 3,258 crore Videocon frauds, said that the case registered by CBI against the former chief executive of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon Group head Venugopal Dhoot for criminal conspiracy and fraud is just a good beginning.
Gupta requested the government to scratch deeper under the surface of the Indian banking system to uncover other irregular deals of this kind.
Chanda Kochhar (56), her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon head Venugopal Dhoot were charged with criminal conspiracy and cheating by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
CBI also searched the Videocon headquarters in Mumbai and Aurangabad.
The whistleblower said although many companies that received loans from ICICI Bank went bankrupt, Kochhar found a “new way” to profit from the situation.
“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 said, according to news agency ANI.
“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,” the whistleblower said.
The case came into the light last year when Gupta claimed that Kochhar’s husband, Deepak Kochhar, and her family members benefited from the deal.
Chanda Kochhar resigned in October last year after seeking early retirement and was replaced by Sandeep Bakhshi. The 56-year-old had headed ICICI since May 2009.
