ED conducts raid on Videocon properties

Aurangabad, July 16:

The Enforcement Directorate officers conducted a raid on the Videocon owners’ Pradeep Dhoot and Rajkumar Dhoot’s properties in Aurangabad on Friday and seized important documents. The sources said that the raid was conducted concerning the ICICI Bank loan scam amounting to crores of rupees. ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are investigating the matter of loans given to the Videocon group to the tune of crores of rupees by the ICICI Bank. Former executive director and CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochar and her husband Deepak Kochar, and industrialist Venugopal Dhoot have been booked in this scam earlier.

A team of ED officers entered the city on Thursday night. On Friday, they started collecting important documents at various properties of the Videocon group at 8 am. Complete confidentiality was maintained about the raids. The officers took control of Dhoot’s bungalow on Railway Station road at 2 pm. The Jawans of the Central Police Force were present with the ED officers. The raid continued till late evening on Friday.

The officers checked the financial transactions of the home appliances showroom in the city, the sources mentioned. Meanwhile, the Vendantnagar police came to the bungalow and inspected the situation from outside, and went away. The Videocon Group was in debt of Rs 46,000 crores. A settlement was done for Rs 2,900 crores, and the group was handed over to another company. The bank incurred losses of around 94 percent. ED has already submitted a charge sheet regarding the loan scam of ICICI Bank. Former managing director Chanda Kochar sanctioned a loan of Rs 1875 crores to a subsidiary company of the Videocon group, but the company was only on the papers. ED investigated the matter till 2018.

When contacted Pradeep Dhoot, he said that he is presently at Rishikesh on a pilgrimage. There is no raid conducted on our house. Some officers had come to the bungalow at 9 am, and they returned after meeting the employees, he said.