A special court sentenced a man to life imprisonment and told him to pay a fine of Rs 3.13 crore for cheating Andhra Bank in 2010. The incident is from Thane’s Ghodbunder Road. Rajendra Patil was found guilty of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. Then manager of the bank, Bandlamudi Mahipal, who had allegedly colluded with 38-year old Patil, was also sentenced to 10-years’ imprisonment. Further, Reshma Patil, who had stood as a guarantor, and another bank official, Premnath Nikumbe, were sentenced to three years in prison.
Two others, an auto-dealer and a chartered accountant, were acquitted for want of evidence. The court directed that Rs 3 crore may be paid as compensation to the bank from the collective fine paid by the accused.
Patil, in 2008, approached Ghodbunder Road bank for a loan so he could buy 15 Skoda cars, claiming that he wanted to give them on lease to a company at a monthly rent of Rs 75,000 per car. He also wanted to buy a house in Thane and had submitted relevant documents in connection with the property, including a registered agreement for sale.
Soon after that, the bank paid Rs 80 lakh, but later it came to light that Patil has submitted fake documents and no cars were purchased. The crime was uncovered when he tried to approach another bank with same sets of document.