CBI court convicts former Central Bank officials in Rs 10.19 crore fraud case

Chennai, Aug 27 A CBI court in Chennai has convicted former senior officials of the Central Bank of India and private individuals in a long-pending bank fraud case involving over Rs 10.19 crore, a CBI statement said on Wednesday.

The verdict was pronounced on Tuesday, the agency statement said.

As per the statement, T.R. Venkatraman, then Branch Manager of the Central Bank of India, and P. Swaminathan, also a former Branch Manager, were each sentenced to nine years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 45,000.

Another accused, K. Srinivasan, a private person, was sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 20,000.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on M/s G.V. Films Ltd., Chennai.

Proceedings against M/s Sujatha Films Ltd., another company involved in the case, had earlier been split up on the orders of the Madras High Court and are still pending before the City Civil Court, Chennai.

Charges against four accused — G. Venkateswaran (private person), R. Srinivasan (then Accountant, Central Bank of India), D. Viswanathan (then Regional Manager), and T.S. Ramachandran (then Chief Manager) — were abated after their demise during the course of the trial.

The CBI had registered the case on October 30, 1996, based on a complaint from the Central Bank of India’s Nungambakkam branch in Chennai.

Investigations revealed that the prime accused, late Venkateswaran, along with bank officials, conspired to fraudulently avail credit and term loans in the names of M/s Sujatha Films Pvt. Ltd. and M/s G.V. Films Ltd. by producing forged documents.

The officials, by abusing their official positions, enabled the companies to dishonestly secure funds, causing wrongful loss to the bank. After investigation, the CBI filed its charge sheet on December 19, 2000, naming nine accused.

After a prolonged trial, the court has now convicted the surviving accused and sentenced them accordingly, bringing closure to a fraud case that dates back more than three decades.

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