New Delhi, Feb 11 (IANS) A former chief manager of a public sector bank in Ahmedabad was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by a Special CBI court with a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh in a fraud case involving the sanctioning of loans worth Rs 80 lakh based on forged documents.
Special CBI Court, Ahmedabad, sentenced Jeevangine Srinivasa Rao, then Chief Manager, Bank of India, S.M. Road Branch, Ahmedabad, after the CBI probed the matter and presented crucial evidence proving him guilty.
The CBI had registered a case on October 30, 2003, against the then bank Chief Manager and others on allegations of cheating, using forged documents as genuine for availing credit facility/loan, forgery of valuable security and criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
It was alleged that the accused private persons had submitted fake collateral security, opened an account in the name of the supplier of the machinery and deposited the cheque in the said account, issued from the bank for the purchase of the machinery.
The CBI said that the accused public servant did not allegedly conduct due diligence while sanctioning the credit facility and had also destroyed the documents related to fake collateral security submitted by the borrower.
During the investigation, it was also revealed that Rao sanctioned a loan by conspiracy to private accused persons in the form of working capital of Rs 30 lakh, a letter of credit of Rs 25 lakh and a term loan of Rs 25 Lakh, on the basis of forged and bogus collateral security and thereby caused wrongful loss to the bank and wrongful gain to the beneficiary to the tune of Rs 80 lakh.
The CBI alleged that Rao, at the time of granting loans, did not make proper pre-sanction and post-sanction inquiries about the accused private firm and its business activities.
Accused Rao was required to take more care while accepting any fresh securities given by defaulter-accused private firm when it had become clear to him that the private firm had previously submitted bogus documents of collateral security, the CBI said.
Rao, in furtherance of criminal conspiracy, took a bogus equitable mortgage in the form of Plot No. 72, Vayana village, District Gandhinagar.
After the completion of the investigation, the chargesheet was filed by CBI on December 23, 2005, against the accused, including the accused convicted and sentenced by the Special CBI Court.
–IANS
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