Mumbai News: Special CBI Court Convicts Bank Manager, Firm Directors In ₹3.55 Crore Bank Of India Fraud Case
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai, March 18: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Wednesday convicted a bank manager and directors of two firms for cheating Bank of India (BoI) between 2007 and 2009 to the tune of ₹3.55 crore.
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Accused and sentences detailed
The individuals held guilty are Harit Mehta, director of Infinite Transmission, Abhay Mehta and Ilesh Shah, directors of Infinite Transmission Pvt Ltd, and Manoj Kumar Mathur, who was senior manager with the forex department of BoI, Nariman Point branch.
The court sentenced Harit and Abhay to five years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹3.50 crore and ₹1 crore, respectively. Shah has been sentenced to three years with a fine of ₹50,000. Mathur has been handed three years’ imprisonment with a fine of ₹50,000.
Forgery of letter of credit alleged
As per the prosecution case, registered by the deputy general manager with BoI, Mathur, in a criminal conspiracy with Harit, Abhay and Shah, allegedly discounted a forged letter of credit (LC) dated July 20, 2009, for ₹5.55 crore.
The CBI claimed Mathur adjusted an amount of ₹95.73 lakh against the outstanding amount of another forged LC, which showed Infinite Transmission Pvt Ltd as a beneficiary. An amount of ₹2.47 crore was credited to the current account of Infinite.
Court rejects defence, finds LC forged
The accused argued in their defence that the LC was genuine. However, CBI prosecutor J K Sharma examined officials of the issuer bank, who testified the LCs were not genuine.
The court observed, “Mathur has flouted the guidelines for verifying genuineness of LC and his conduct shows that he was actively involved in discounting an LC which he knew to be forged.”
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Harit, Abhay and Shah sought leniency, contending ₹2 crore had been recovered after the house of Harit was auctioned. Refusing leniency, the court said, “Financial fraud is a class apart as it undermines the economic fabric of society and public confidence. Consequently, a strict yardstick has to be used while dealing with economic offences.”
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