Bank of Maharashtra's ex-branch head gets 10-year jail term

PUNE: A special CBI court has sentenced a 60-year-old former branch manager of the Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) to 10 years' rigorous jail and imposed Rs 24 lakh fine for misappropriating funds worth over Rs 2.56 crore between 2009 and 2017 while he was posted in different capacities at five branches of the bank in Pune city and district.
The CBI had registered five separate cases against the accused, Shaliwahan Mukund Solegaonkar, for misappropriating funds in the range of Rs 7.85 lakh to Rs 2.08 crore. Special CBI judge Pralhad C Bhagure convicted him in all these cases, handing out varied jail terms and fines - the maximum being 10 years' term for Rs 2.08-crore case. The judge also sentenced Solegaonkar's foster son, Rakesh C Jadhav, to three years in jail, but suspended it to enable him move an appeal in the high court.
Solegaonkar, who was out on bail, was taken into custody soon after the sentencing and sent to the Yerawada central jail. His lawyer, Rohit Dangare, told TOI, "We will move an appeal in the high court as we feel the evidence on record has not been appreciated properly by the court."
Solegaonkar rose from the rank of a clerk to deputy manager at the BoM's Sahakarnagar branch before moving to Lavale and later Lasurne branches as deputy manager and as manager at the Hadapsar industrial estate and Talegaon Dhamdhere branches.
The CBI's case was that he entered into a criminal conspiracy with his foster son, Jadhav, and other accused (since discharged from case) to transfer various amounts from the Bank General Ledger (BGL) to a savings account in Jadhav's name at BoM's Sahakarnagar branch.
Thereafter, Solegaonkar transferred these amounts from Jadhav's account to his own savings accounts at Vadgaon Budruk and Sahakarnagar branches, thereby, abusing his official powers.
The court acknowledged that Jadhav had a lesser role in the conspiracy as it was Solegaonkar who was operating all the activity and was also using the ATM card and PIN issued in Jadhav's name for affecting the transactions.
It held that Solegaonkar acted as maker and checker in all dubious transactions and ruled that there was no ground to show leniency to the accused. Although, the court took a lenient view towards Jadhav.
Lawyer Dangare said, "We have sufficient grounds to appeal, considering that the CBI filed five chargesheets in a single FIR and there were discrepancies in the documentary evidence in all the cases and the same went without examination of material witnesses. Certain material documentary evidence was also suppressed by the prosecution."