Judgment after 23 years: CBI court jails four for insurance fraud in 2003
Convicts get 3 years each; three other accused had died during the trial
The four convicts, one of whom was a surveyor and the others are private individuals, were sentenced to three years of imprisonment, and each was slapped with a fine of Rs 50,000. (File Photo) A CBI court on Friday convicted and sentenced four individuals in separate cases of fire insurance fraud 23 years after police had registered FIRs against the incidents. However, three other individuals, who were also named as accused in the cases, had died during the trial, after which the cases against them were abated by the court.
The four convicts, one of whom was a surveyor and the others are private individuals, were sentenced to three years of imprisonment, and each was slapped with a fine of Rs 50,000.
According to a statement from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), “Jatin Bhanubhai Joshi, then a surveyor in Vadodara, and three private persons—Madhusudan D. Bhavsar, Ila N. Patel and Vijay Arvindbhai Kayasth—were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for three years…in two separate cases of fraudulently obtaining fire insurance claims.”
Other accused—Ronald Amarjeet James (a public servant), and Nilesh Dayabhai Patel and Umesh Vithaldas Patel (both private persons)—had died during the trial, and the case against them was abated by the court.
The CBI had originally registered two cases of fire insurance claim fraud on July 16, 2003.
The first case was registered against James, a senior divisional manager at New India Assurance Co. Ltd in Surat, M/s Sonu Communications & Colour Xerox of Vadodara, and surveyor Joshi. It was alleged that the accused James, while working as the senior divisional manager in the year 2002-2003 conspired with Sonu Communications and Joshi to fraudulently obtain fire insurance claims by submission of false and forged documents. The three caused a wrongful loss of Rs 11,52,233 to the insurance company.
The second case was registered against James, Manubhai Dayabhai Patel, Anand, Nainesh Suryakant Patel, and surveyor Joshi. It was alleged that James, in collusion with others mentioned, fraudulently obtained fire insurance claims by submitting false and forged documents on behalf of M/s. M.D. Patel & Co., and thereby caused a wrongful loss of Rs 20,08,595 to New India Assurance in Surat.
After investigation, the CBI filed two separate charge sheets on June 15 and June 28 in 2004, against the accused persons.
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