Man gets life imprisonment for loan fraud

Mumbai:A special CBI court here sentenced a person Rajendra Marutrao Patil to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3.13 crore in a loan default case causing loss to Andhra Bank of Rs 2.30 crore, the agency said on Friday.

Patil along with Bandalmudi Mahipal, a former branch manager of Andhra Bank's Ghodbundar Road branch in Mumbai's Thane district, and other private persons is accused of siphoning off over Rs 2.03 crore which he availed as a term loan for the purchase of 15 Skoda Laura cars.

The court also sentenced Mahipal to 10 years rigorous imprisonment in connection with the case with a fine of Rs 3.40 lakh.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge also sentenced three persons Nizamuddin Ismail Surve, Premnath Atmaram Nikumbhe and Reshma Kunte to three years rigorous imprisonment.

The CBI had registered the case on January 30, 2010 on a complaint from the General Manager of Andhra Bank, Mumbai against Patil, Mahipal and others.

"It was alleged that the accused persons availed a term loan of over Rs 203.35 lakh for purchase of 15 Skoda Laura cars. However, only one car was purchased and rest of the money was siphoned off for other purposes by the borrower. Another facility of secured overdraft of Rs 139.95 lakh against term deposit worth Rs 155.50 lakh was also availed by the applicant which was also not cleared and thereby Andhra Bank was put to a total loss to the tune of approximately Rs 2.30 crore," the CBI said.

After completion of investigation, the agency said a chargesheet was filed in the special CBI court in Mumbai against the accused.

The trial court found the accused guilty and convicted them, the CBI added.