Lucknow: A Special CBI Court in Lucknow on Tuesday sentenced four persons to Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) for 8 years in a Rs 6.75 crore bank fraud in Uttar Pradesh and slapped a fine of Rs 70 lakh each on them, an official said.
The Special Court punished Ramji Mishra, Shyamji Mishra, Akhilesh Kumar Mishra and Manishi Pandey, all private persons, said a CBI statement.
The court also held two private companies guilty in the case. The two private firms are: Manishi Enterprises, Varanasi, and Mirzapur Carpets. The court imposed a joint fine of Rs 2 crore on the two firms, it said.
The CBI registered the case on March 13, 2001, against S. N. Verma, the then Branch Manager, Central Bank of India, Mirzapur and others on the allegations that Mirzapur Carpets availed credit facilities from the Bank’s Mirzapur Branch in 1996 using forged documents.
At the time of the alleged offence, Ramji Mishra was its Managing Director and Shyamji Mishra and Akhilesh Kumar Mishra were its Directors, said the CBI.
After completion of the investigation, the CBI filed a combined chargesheet on March 17, 2004, against seven accused and two firms.
The chargesheet named Verma, the then Branch Manager, Yadu Nath Dubey, Pankaj Kumar Tiwari, Manishi Pandey, Ramji Mishra, Shyamji Mishra, Akhilesh Kumar Mishra, Manishi Enterprises, through its main Executive Partner, and Mirzapur Carpets, through its Managing Director, for causing wrongful loss to the tune of Rs 6.75 crore to the bank using forged bills.
The Special CBI Court, after the trial, convicted and sentenced the accused accordingly. Verma, the then Branch Manager and Yadunath Dubey (Private Person) have been acquitted of all the charges on the ground that evidence of criminal conspiracy is not found on their part, said the CBI.
The file has been separated against accused Pankaj Kumar Tiwari by the Special Court on medical grounds, it said.
(IANS)
