Ahmedabad: A CBI Court on Wednesday convicted and sentenced three individuals, including two former bank officials, to rigorous imprisonment for three years, along with a total fine of ₹30 lakh in connection with a bank fraud case.

The convicted persons are Medam Bhagavathi Prasad, then Senior Manager (earlier Branch Manager); Bhaskar Rameshchandra Soni, then Assistant Manager of UCO Bank’s Chiloda branch in Gandhinagar; and Jagrutiben Nimish Parikh, proprietor of M/s Jagruti Plastics, Ahmedabad.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered the case on April 27, 2016, against the accused and others. According to the agency, Medam Bhagavathi Prasad, while serving as Branch Manager at UCO Bank’s Chiloda branch, fraudulently sanctioned and disbursed cash credit limits, including term loans, amounting to ₹6.43 crore (₹643 lakh) to 17 different borrowers based on forged documents.

The investigation revealed that the total outstanding amount in these 17 accounts stood at ₹3.63 crore (₹363 lakh) as of December 2015. Most of the loan accounts had turned into Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), while the remaining were on the verge of becoming NPAs, resulting in significant financial loss to the bank.

Following the investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet on November 17, 2017. During the trial, the Special Judge of the CBI Court, through an order dated November 23, 2021, directed the agency to file separate chargesheets, which were subsequently submitted on June 10, 2022.

After completion of the trial, the court found the accused guilty and sentenced them accordingly. DeshGujarat