Fifteen people, including a former branch manager of the State Bank of Saurashtra in Ahmedabad, were sentenced to imprisonment for a period ranging from three to five years with a collective fine of Rs 15.35 lakh in a Rs 1.62 crore bank fraud case.
The Special Judge for CBI cases, Court No 1 Ahmedabad, sentenced the fifteen accused, including Bechar Ganesh Zala, former branch manager of State Bank of Saurashtra, Naroda Road Branch, Ahmedabad, among others.
Fourteen others who have been convicted are Raghvendra K Rajgore; Mukesh Natwar Brahmbhatt; Amit Ajit Vyas; Rajendra Natwarlal Brahmbhatt; Chetan Jagdish Bhatt; Karan Vikram Mahida; Rajesh Arvind Patel; Mahesh Murlidhar Sabnani; Chinmay Girishchandra Trivedi; Jayesh Shyamlal Aswani; Rajnikant Chotelal Upadhayaya; Nilesh Sureshchandra Shah; Vimal K. Mehta and Hemendra L.
The CBI had registered the case on September 11, 2001, against the accused on allegations that accused BG Zala, then Branch Manager, had entered into a criminal conspiracy with aforesaid accused private persons and others with the aim to cheat the State Bank of Saurashtra, Naroda Road Branch, by abusing his official position as public servant in the matter of public housing finance by sanctioning housing finance of Rs.1.62 crore on the basis of forged documents submitted by several borrowers.
A statement from the CBI on Saturday said that the accused BG Zala, in pursuance of the said criminal conspiracy, fraudulently and dishonestly did not verify the loan eligibility of the said borrowers and by abusing his official position as a public servant, sanctioned the housing loan to the borrowers.
After the completion of the investigation, CBI filed nine separate chargesheets on various dates against the accused, including those convicted.
Of the nine special cases, judgment on five cases has been pronounced.
The charges against nine accused were abated as they died during the trial. After trial, the court found 15 people guilty and sentenced them accordingly.
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