A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ahmedabad has sentenced nine convicts, including three retired officials of Punjab National Bank (PNB), in a fraud case linked to sanctioning loans based on forged documents.
The court handed down a two-year rigorous imprisonment sentence to the three retired PNB officials -- identified as Gurinder Singh (Retd. AGM), K.G.C.S. Iyer (Retd. Chief Manager), and K.E. Surendiranath (Retd. Senior Manager). It also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on the convicts.
Five private individuals have also been handed jail sentences ranging from 2 to 3 years. Sanjay Nagjibhai Patel has been sentenced to three years' RI with a fine of Rs 50,000; Hitesh Domadiya received three years' RI and a fine of Rs 1 lakh; Satish Nagjibhai Davra, Vaishaliben Davra, and Ramilaben Bhikadiya have been awarded two years' RI each with fines ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
A fine of Rs 50,000 has also been imposed on M/s Jalpa Enterprise Pvt Ltd.
The case was registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in August 2016 against multiple accused, including the proprietor of M/s Shree Kali Textiles, Surat. It entailed fraudulently availing a term loan of Rs 3.7 crore and a cash credit limit of Rs 40 lakh from PNB in 2011 for the purchase of water jet loom machines using forged documents.
Probes revealed that the accused submitted forged documents to secure the loan, which was sanctioned by bank officials without due diligence. The fraudulent transactions caused a loss of Rs 1.56 crore, excluding interest, to the bank.
The CBI filed the case charge sheet in June 2016. After the trial, the court found all the accused guilty.
