Ex-Bank of India Official Among Six Sentenced in Fraud Case

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Chennai has sentenced a former Bank of India deputy general manager and five others to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in a long-running bank fraud case. The court also imposed fines totalling Rs 2.70 crore on the six convicts. The case involved allegations of fraud that caused the bank a loss of Rs 238.97 lakh, or nearly Rs 2.39 crore.

The convicted former bank official has been identified as N. Venkatachalam, who previously served as a deputy general manager at Bank of India. The other government employees convicted in the case are M. Sivakumar, a record clerk at the Sholinganallur taluk office, T. Dasarathan, who was then a village administrative officer at Pazhavanthangal, and M. Manichavelu, a former village administrative officer with the Tamil Nadu government. Two private individuals, O.P. Thamarai Poo and P. Thandapani, were also sentenced.

According to the prosecution, the accused were involved in a conspiracy in which various credit facilities were allegedly obtained from Bank of India by submitting false and fabricated documents. Investigators claimed that the transactions resulted in a financial loss of Rs 238.97 lakh to the lender. The CBI registered the case on May 19, 2010, following a complaint filed by Bank of India and subsequently investigated the alleged financial irregularities.

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After completing its investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet before the court on December 28, 2011. The charge sheet named 12 accused, including five public servants and seven private individuals. The proceedings continued for several years, with the court eventually delivering its verdict against the six accused who remained in the case and were found guilty. All six were awarded the same 10-year prison sentence.

The prolonged proceedings also saw changes in the status of several other accused. Proceedings against V. Umapathy, a suspended senior draftsman in the Land and Survey Department, were separated and are being handled separately under another case. Four private accused — E. Muthuswamy, A. Vincent, K. Srikanth and M. Jothi — died during the trial, resulting in the charges against them being abated. Another accused, identified as Lavanya, was acquitted by the court.

The CBI said the court's latest verdict marked the conclusion of proceedings against the six surviving accused who were convicted in the case. However, the agency's statement did not provide details about the specific offences under which the six were convicted or elaborate on the fraudulent loan accounts and properties allegedly involved. The case highlights the lengthy legal process that can follow alleged financial fraud involving bank officials, government employees and private individuals.

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