Ex-DGM, five others get 10-year RI; CBI court fines Rs 2.7 crore

CHENNAI: A CBI court in Chennai on Wednesday sentenced six persons, including four public servants, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a total fine of Rs 2.70 crore in the Bank of India fraud case.

What happened

In practice, the CBI registered the case on May 19, 2010, based on a complaint from Bank of India. The agency alleged that prime accused E Muthuswamy, a private individual, and others, in conspiracy with bank authorities, fraudulently availed credit facilities by submitting forged and fabricated documents and cheated the bank of Rs 238.97 lakh. The CBI filed a chargesheet against 12 accused, including five public servants and seven private persons, on December 28, 2011.

During the trial, four accused, E Muthusamy, A Vincent, K Srikanth and M Jothi, died and charges against them were abated. One accused, Lavanya, was acquitted. The case against suspended senior draftsman V Umapathy, of the Land and Survey Department, was split up.

The bottom line

Taken together, the developments around ex-DGM, five others get 10-year RI; CBI court fines Rs 2.7 crore point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.