Ex-Bank of India DGM, five others get 10-year jail term in Rs 2.39 crore fraud case

A special CBI court in Chennai has sentenced a former Deputy General Manager (DGM) of the Bank of India and five others, including three Tamil Nadu government employees, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in a bank fraud case involving nearly ₹2.39 crore. The court, announcing its verdict, also imposed fines totalling ₹2.70 crore on the six convicts on Thursday, according to a statement issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Those convicted are N. Venkatachalam, a former deputy general manager of Bank of India; M. Sivakumar, who worked as a record clerk at the Sholinganallur taluk office; T. Dasarathan, then village administrative officer at Pazhavanthangal; and M. Manichavelu, a former village administrative officer with the Tamil Nadu government.

The two private individuals sentenced in the case are O.P. Thamarai Poo and P. Thandapani. All six were awarded the same prison term. The case was registered by the CBI on May 19, 2010, following a complaint from the Bank of India. The investigators had alleged that the principal accused E. Muthuswamy, and others conspired with bank officials to divert the lender’s funds. According to the prosecution, the accused dishonestly obtained various credit facilities from the bank by submitting false and fabricated documents.

The transactions allegedly caused Bank of India a loss of ₹238.97 lakh. After completing its investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet on December 28, 2011, against 12 people. The accused included five public servants and seven private individuals. The trial continued for several years before the court reached its decision against the six surviving accused who were found guilty. The verdict followed a prolonged trial. Proceedings against V. Umapathy, a suspended senior draftsman in the Land and Survey Department, were separated and are being dealt with in another case, numbered CC 18 of 2016.

Four private accused — E. Muthuswamy, A. Vincent, K. Srikanth and M. Jothi — died during the trial. The charges against them were therefore abated, bringing the proceedings against them to an end. Another accused, Lavanya, was acquitted by the court. The CBI statement did not specify the offences under which the six persons were convicted or provide further details about the fraudulent loan accounts and properties involved.

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