Ahmedabad: Rs 40 lakh fraud Court sends ex-PNB manager, two others to five years in jail

The court, in its judgment dated November 12, also added that apart from the three convicted persons, two other accused in the case have died during the trial which began in 2006, while two others — Parul Mayank Shah and Paulomi Rikin Shah — were acquitted by the court.

The case pertains to a complaint filed by the chief manager of Punjab National Bank’s Ambawadi Branch in Ahmedabad in 2004 with the CBI in Gandhinagar against his predecessor, Subhashchandra Mahajan.

“It was alleged that the then chief manager of PNB, along with other bank officials, had sanctioned a cash credit (hypothecation) facility of Rs 40 lakh to Mayank Bachubhai Shah, proprietor of an Ahmedabad-based private firm, in conspiracy with other accused on the basis of forged documents, without carrying out physical inspection/verification of the immovable property. An alleged loss of Rs 40 lakh was caused to the bank,” read a statement from the CBI. Mayank’s brother Rikin Bachubhai Shah was the guarantor.

The complainant had further stated that the whole amount was siphoned off by the party who never repaid the said amount to the bank despite several reminders and the bank was “cheated to the tune of Rs 40 lakhs”.

Three of the accused – Mayank, Rikin (both proprietors of one Jainal enterprise) and Sanjiv Kamlakar Inamdar, the senior manager at PNB Ambawadi branch in 2002 — were found guilty of a criminal conspiracy along with cheating, forgery of documents, forgery for the purpose of cheating. The guilty were sentenced anywhere between two to five years of simple imprisonment for each of the offences, all of which will run concurrently.

“The accused shall also have the set-off, the period for which they remained in the custody during the trial as an under-trial prisoner,” the court stated.
Additionally, Inamdar was held guilty under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. “He failed to verify the financial reports, verification of statement, etc, and verification of immovable property that was secured for collateral purposes… An intentional lapse on Inamdar’s part has permitted this court to believe that there was misconduct on his part which led to the bank suffering a financial loss worth more than Rs 40 lakh plus interest,” the court stated.

Special CBI judge VR Raval observed in his verdict that the two accused brothers, Mayank and Rikin, had confessed by making their declaration, which was on the court’s record. Evidence before the court had determined that false account statement of the chartered accountant, false allotment letter of shop and documents indicating stock in the godown, despite there being no stock, were also produced.