Jaipur, Aug 12 (IANS) A Special CBI Court in Jaipur has convicted and sentenced three persons, including a former branch manager of the Bank of Maharashtra, in a bank fraud case involving illegal loan sanctions that allegedly caused a loss of Rs 3.61 crore to the bank, officials said on Wednesday.
According to an official statement issued by the CBI, those convicted include Ram Bharose Meena, the then Branch Manager of Bank of Maharashtra’s Gopalpura Bypass Branch in Jaipur, along with two private individuals, Deep Ram Meena and Veer Singh Meena.
The court sentenced Ram Bharose Meena to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 2.60 lakh. The two co-accused, Deep Ram Meena and Veer Singh Meena, were each awarded three years of rigorous imprisonment along with fines of Rs 25,000.
The case was registered by the CBI on November 9, 2016, following a complaint from the Bank of Maharashtra’s Zonal Office in Jaipur. The complaint alleged that Ram Bharose Meena, while serving as branch manager, entered into a criminal conspiracy with the two private individuals and fraudulently sanctioned loans in 17 accounts between January 15, 2015 and May 6, 2015.
Investigators alleged that the loans were approved without valid applications, supporting documents or adequate security. The accused allegedly abused their official position and resorted to fraud and forgery to facilitate the disbursals, resulting in a wrongful loss of approximately Rs 3.61 crore to the bank.
Following the investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet against the three accused on March 30, 2019. The court framed charges against them on December 1, 2021, paving the way for the trial.
After examining the evidence and hearing arguments from both sides, the Special CBI Court on Wednesday, August 12, found all three accused guilty and awarded the respective sentences.
The conviction marks the culmination of nearly a decade-long investigation and trial into the alleged fraudulent loan sanctioning at the Jaipur branch of the public sector bank.
–IANS
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