In a significant verdict on Monday, the Special CBI Court in Chennai convicted M/s. D.N. International Ltd., a city-based diamond export firm, and its directors for their involvement in a major bank fraud case amounting to Rs 5.75 crore. The court sentenced the company’s directors — Ketan A. Shah, Mukesh A. Shah, Ashwin H. Shah, and Rashmikant Shah — to five years of rigorous imprisonment each and imposed a fine of Rs 4 lakh on each of them.
The case dates back to 1999–2000 when the accused company availed credit facilities from Andhra Bank’s Mowbrays Road Branch in Chennai. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) revealed that the accused, in collusion with certain bank officials, fraudulently obtained credit and discounting limits without following banking norms, leading to a wrongful loss of Rs 5.75 crore to the bank.
The investigation found that the sanctioned funds were diverted for unauthorized purposes, resulting in unlawful gains for the accused company and its directors. The CBI initiated the case in 2002 based on irregularities in fund sanctioning and utilization. After a thorough probe, a chargesheet was filed in 2004 against 11 accused, alleging criminal conspiracy, cheating, and misconduct.
The court, after examining evidence and testimonies, concluded that the accused deliberately violated banking norms, causing significant financial loss to the public sector bank. While five individuals were convicted and sentenced, three were acquitted due to insufficient evidence, and proceedings against three others were terminated upon their demise during the trial. This judgment signifies the resolution of a long-standing case and highlights the judiciary’s commitment to holding perpetrators accountable in financial fraud cases.
