Pune Crime Files: After 21 years, businessman held guilty of altering Rs 5-lakh cheque to Rs 2.51 crore
Forensic tests revealed the businessman had exploited blank spaces and inserted digits to inflate the amount to Rs 2.51 crore before the bank flagged the fraud.
Pune cheque forgery case ends after 21 years as court sentences businessman to two years for attempting to alter a Rs 5 lakh cheque (Express photo/Special arrangement. Enhanced using AI).
Nearly 21 years after a forgery case was registered, a Pune court in June this year sentenced a businessman to two years of imprisonment for attempting to swindle Rs 2.51 crore by tampering with a Rs 5 lakh hand-loan cheque.
Judicial Magistrate (First Class) N S Bari passed the order convicting R P Banwari, a Karnataka resident now in his 60s, under charges of fraud, breach of trust, and document forgery.
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Complainant Cecilia Anthony Paul filed the FIR in this case at the Yerwada police station in April 2005. Paul, who ran a construction firm and died about a decade ago, had engaged in business with the accused as he held the original general power of attorney for a land development project in Pune’s Mangalwar Peth.
According to prosecution records, the accused requested a hand loan from Paul, who issued a UCO Bank cheque for Rs 5 lakh in the accused’s name, dated March 11, 2005. In her haste, Paul left the space meant for writing the amount in words blank.
The accused allegedly wrote “Two crores fifty one lakh only” in the blank space. He also tampered with the numerical value of “Rs 5,00,000” by inserting a “2” before and a “1” after the digit “5”, altering the amount to “Rs 2,51,00,000”.
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Detecting suspicious alterations, the bank refused to honour the cheque and issued a return memo on April 2, 2005. After discovering the fraud, Paul lodged a police complaint, leading to the accused’s arrest on September 10, 2005. He was granted bail three months later, and police filed a chargesheet on March 3, 2006.
During the trial, Public Prosecutor Yogesh Kadam examined eight witnesses. The defence argued that the cheque was part payment for a Rs 2.95 crore property deal executed via an indemnity bond in Mysuru on April 19, 2004. However, the prosecution proved the bond was fabricated, presenting records that confirmed Paul was in Pune on that date.
Also, a forensic handwriting expert noted differences in pen pressure, ink thickness, ink flow, writing sequence, and movement patterns on the cheque. The expert concluded that the figures “2” and “1” were added separately.
Although Paul died during the prolonged trial, her children continued the legal battle. The court ultimately found the accused guilty, bringing the 21-year legal struggle to a close.
Pune cheque forgery case ends after 21 years as court sentences businessman to two years for attempting to alter a Rs 5 lakh cheque (Express photo/Special arrangement. Enhanced using AI). 
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