Chennai Court Sentences Six in Major Bank Fraud Case
Significant Sentencing in Bank Fraud Case
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Chennai, August 20: A special court in Chennai has handed down a 10-year rigorous imprisonment sentence to a former Deputy General Manager (DGM) of the Bank of India along with five others, including three employees from the Tamil Nadu government, in connection with a bank fraud case amounting to approximately ₹2.39 crore.
The court's ruling, announced on Thursday, also included fines totaling ₹2.70 crore for the six convicted individuals, as reported by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The individuals found guilty include N. Venkatachalam, the former DGM of the Bank of India; M. Sivakumar, a record clerk at the Sholinganallur taluk office; T. Dasarathan, a village administrative officer at Pazhavanthangal; and M. Manichavelu, another former village administrative officer. The two private individuals sentenced are O.P. Thamarai Poo and P. Thandapani.
All six convicts received identical prison sentences.
The CBI initiated the case on May 19, 2010, following a complaint lodged by the Bank of India.
Investigators alleged that the main accused, E. Muthuswamy, conspired with bank officials to misappropriate funds.
Prosecutors claimed that the accused fraudulently secured various credit facilities from the bank by presenting false and forged documents, leading to a loss of ₹238.97 lakh for the Bank of India. After concluding their investigation, the CBI submitted a charge sheet on December 28, 2011, against a total of 12 individuals.
The accused included five public servants and seven private individuals. The trial spanned several years before the court delivered its verdict against the six remaining defendants who were found guilty.
This verdict came after an extensive trial process. Proceedings against V. Umapathy, a suspended senior draftsman in the Land and Survey Department, have been separated and are being handled in a different case, numbered CC 18 of 2016. Four private defendants — E. Muthuswamy, A. Vincent, K. Srikanth, and M. Jothi — passed away during the trial, leading to the abatement of charges against them. Another accused, Lavanya, was acquitted by the court.
The CBI's statement did not detail the specific offenses for which the six individuals were convicted or provide additional information regarding the fraudulent loan accounts and properties involved.