CBI Court Sentences Seven, Including Bank Managers, to 3 Years in Jail for Rs. 1.84 Crore Fraud
(By Syed Ali Taher Abedi)
In a noteworthy ruling, the Special Judge for CBI cases, Ahmedabad, sentenced seven individuals, including two former managers and an officer of Punjab & Sind Bank’s Surat Branch, to three years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) each. The accused were found guilty in connection with a major bank fraud case that resulted in a loss of Rs. 1.84 crore.
The convicted individuals include K.R. Goyal and Rakesh Behl, both former managers, and Shiv Ram Meena, a former officer at the Surat branch of Punjab & Sind Bank. Additionally, four private persons—Manjit Singh Bakshi, Manish G. Patel, Pawan Kumar Bansal, and Sandeep Kumar Bansal—were sentenced. The court also imposed a total fine of Rs. 27.5 lakh on all seven accused.
The case stemmed from fraudulent activities that took place between 2000 and 2002. The accused caused the wrongful loss by unlawfully discounting and purchasing high-value cheques from the accounts of firms associated with the private individuals, well beyond the bank’s authorized limits. These actions were carried out with deliberate intent, and the bank officials intentionally failed to secure post-facto approval for these transactions, thereby concealing the fraud from their controlling office.
Following an investigation, the CBI filed charges against the accused in 2004, leading to their conviction on charges including criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust by bankers, falsification of accounts, and criminal misconduct. The prosecution presented 53 witnesses and 243 documents to support the case, resulting in the court’s guilty verdict.
