Real estate transactions show quid pro quo arrangement between Kochhars and Dhoots: report

Real estate transactions between Kochhars and the Dhoots indicated the quid pro quo arrangement between them, The Economic Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The transactions were the key element in the report which found former ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar violating the lender’s code of conduct as she had not disclosed the conflicts of interest, the sources told the paper.

The paper, citing the report which found Kochhar guilty, said the relationship between the two families was a longstanding one that began before Chanda Kochhar became the CEO of the bank in 2009.

The report said that the Kochhars’ residence at CCI Chambers, in south Mumbai, has been bought from the Videocon Group in a complex transaction in the mid-1990s and was purchased through Credential Finance, a financial services firm established by Deepak Kochhar, Chanda Kochhar’s husband, and his brother Rajiv Kochhar. Videocon Group also had a stake in this financial firm.

“One of the main findings of the enquiry report has been linking their relationship (Kochhars and Dhoots). The relation went a long way back, when they acquired their residential flat from parties linked to the Videocon Group,” the sources were quoted as saying.

Deepak Kochhar and Venugopal Dhoot denied these claims when the paper approached them on the same. “The flat at CCI Chambers was conveyed from Bilquis Jahan Begum to me and my brother in February 1996,” Deepak Kochhar told the paper.