Ex-General manager of Indian Bank gets three-year imprisonment in Rs 39-crore loan scam

CHENNAI: A former general manager of Indian Bank and three other officials of the bank’s Thousand Lights branch here have been sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment by a special judge for CBI cases in Chennai for providing a loan to a private entity without approval or sanction and causing a Rs 39.18 crore loss.

CBI had registered a case on a complaint from Indian Bank that Kiran Overseas Ltd and its directors, officials of the branch, and others caused huge loss to the bank by submitting forged documents. The loan amount was released by the officials of the bank without approval or sanction and without securing the bank’s financial interests. The accused didn’t repay the loan, causing a loss of Rs 39.18 crore to the bank.

After the investigation, a charge sheet was filed against the accused. During the trial, four accused officials of the bank, including a former chairman and MD, died. The special judge for CBI cases in Chennai sentenced S Arunachalam, the then general manage of Indian Bank, Aziz, the then chief manager, GV Srinivasan, the then senior manager, and Muthiah, the then senior manager of the bank, to undergo three years rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000 each.

The court also sentenced Ranjiv Batra and his wife Kiran Batra of Kiran Overseas Ltd (both residents of Chennai) to undergo 37 months of rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs 10,000 each. Similarly, a fine of Rs 10,000 was imposed on Kiran Overseas Ltd, Chennai, and Kiran Overseas Ltd, Delhi.