Chennai CBI court sentences ex-Bank of India DGM, five others to 10 years in fraud case

CHENNAI: A CBI court in the city has sentenced six persons, including a former deputy general manager of Bank of India and three Tamil Nadu government officials, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in a bank fraud case involving Rs 2.39 crore.

The court passed the order on Wednesday, sentencing the then DGM of Bank of India N Venkatachalam; record clerk of Sholinganallur Taluk office M Sivakumar; VAO of Puzhalavandhal T Dasarathan; another VAO M Manichavelu and private persons OP Thamarai Poo and P Thandapani.

The six were also collectively fined Rs 2.70 crore, according to the CBI.

The CBI registered the case on May 19, 2010, based on a complaint from Bank of India. The agency alleged that the prime accused, E Muthuswamy and others, in conspiracy with bank officials, fraudulently obtained various credit facilities by submitting false and fabricated documents.

The accused allegedly misappropriated bank funds and caused a loss of Rs 2.39 crore to the bank.

Following the investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet on December 28, 2011, against 12 persons, including five public servants and seven private individuals.

During the trial, the case against suspended senior draftsman V Umapathy of the Land and Survey Department was split up and is being tried separately in CC 18/2016.

Four accused - E Muthusamy, A Vincent, K Srikanth and M Jothi - died during the trial, following which the charges against them were abated. Another accused, Lavanya, was acquitted.