She was the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Bank from 2009 to 2018[1] She resigned from her positions in 2018 due a case of conflict of interest.
[9] Under Kochhar's leadership, ICICI Bank started building the nascent retail business in 2000 focusing largely on technology, innovation, process engineering and expansion of distribution and scale.
[13] She also chaired the boards of most of the bank's subsidiaries, which included among the leading private sector life and general insurance companies in India.
Kochhar received an honorary doctorate from Carleton University, Canada in 2014,[19] in recognition of her pioneering work in the financial sector, effective leadership in a time of economic crisis and support for engaged business practices.
On 4 October 2018 she was forced to step down from her position as managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank, following a fresh complaint from an anonymous whistleblower.
[21][22][23] After an enquiry concluded that she had violated the bank's code of conduct regarding conflict of interest and due disclosure or recusal requirements, she was terminated from service.
[53] On 29 March 2018, the Indian Express first reported that Videocon group promoter Venugopal Dhoot provided crores of rupees allegedly to NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL), a firm he had set up with Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar and two relatives six months after the Videocon group got ₹3,250 crore as loan from ICICI Bank in 2012.
He allegedly transferred proprietorship of the company to a trust owned by Deepak Kochhar for ₹9 lakh, six months after he received the loan from ICICI Bank.
"The Income Tax department is also probing the acquisition of the swanky family residence of Chanda Kochhar, the CEO and MD of ICICI Bank, in South Mumbai by her husband Deepak Kochhar in a complex transaction involving firms linked to Videocon Group", reported the Indian Express.
The Indian Express also reported similar transactions and favourable loans granted by Kochhar allegedly to the Essar Group, which was also later classified as NPAs.
[54][55] On 24 January 2019, Chanda, her husband Deepak, and industrialist Venugopal Dhoot were named in a CBI FIR for cheating and defrauding ICICI Bank to the tune of ₹1,730 crore.
[56] Following CBI action, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) lodged a case of money laundering against Chanda Kochhar in connection with loans disbursed by bank to the Videocon Group which later turned into NPAs.
The Enforcement Directorate attached the properties of Chanda Kochhar and her family in connection with the money laundering case on 10 January 2020.
The ED on 24 August 2021, Tuesday, submitted draft charges against Chanda Kochhar, her businessman-husband and other accused in a special PMLA court in connection with a money laundering case.
[61] Chanda Kochhar, her husband, and Videocon Group's promoter, V N Dhoot, were charged with corruption in the Rs 3,250 crore loan fraud scam, in CBI's 11,000-page chargesheet lodged in late March 2023.
On 26 June 2023 CBI said that Chanda Kochhar had conspired with the other accused and sanctioned credit facilities to the firms of the Videocon Group, which were ineligible for such loans.
On 26 August 2009, a Rupee Term Loan (RTL) of Rs 300 crore was sanctioned to Videocon International Electronics Limited (VIEL) by the ICICI Bank.
Thus, said CBI, Chanda accepted illegal gratification of Rs 64 crore as a reward and thereby misappropriated the bank's fund for her own use.
[65] The court order was in response to Kocchar's plea that she and her husband should be treated as senior citizens and not be subjected to extended questioning in the investigations.