NE BUSINESS BUREAU
CHENNAI, JULY 2
Four persons were convicted by the Special Court for CBI cases and sentenced to Rigorous Imprisonment and levied a total fine of ₹1.04 crore.
- Accused T. Palani died during the course of trial and charges against him abated.
- Accused T.S.R. Vasudevan, private. person was sentenced to 16 years RI with a fine of Rs. 1
The XI Addlitional Special Judge, Chennai, on Monday convicted and sentenced, four accused – R. Ramesh, the then Asst. General Manager, Bank of Maharashtra; Nirmala, the then Officer, Bank of Maharashtra and two private persons – T.S.R. Vasudevan and T. Vetrivel to 4-16 years Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) with total fine of Rs.1.04 Crore in bank fraud case. .
CBI had registered the case on 28.02.2003 based on a complaint from Bank of Maharashtra, on the allegation that accused T.S.R. Vasudevan, Proprietor of M/s. Lalitha Oils; accused T. Palani, Proprietor of M/s. Tamil Nadu Marketing and accused T. Vetrivel, who projected as M/s Vetri Oils, opened Current Account with Bank of Maharashtra, Valmiki Nagar Branch, Chennai in the name of the proprietorship firm. In collusion with the said accused person, the accused bank officials R. Ramesh, then Asst. General Manager, Bank of Maharashtra, and Nirmala, then Officer, Bank of Maharashtra sanctioned bill purchase facilities beyond their sanctioning power. T.S.R. Vasudevan and T. Palani misused the same by submitting forged bills in the name of non-existing firm of M/s Vetri Oils and misutilised the funds and thereby caused wrongful loss to the tune of Rs. 171.90 lakhs.
After investigation, a charge sheet was filed on 25.11.2003 against T.S.R. Vasudevan T. Palani, (Died) T. Vetrivel, Sh. R. Ramesh, Asst. General Manager, Bank of Maharashtra, Nirmala, the then Officer, Bank of Maharashtra before the XI Addl. Special Judge for CBI Cases, Chennai. During the course of trial accused Sh. T. Vetrivel was absconding and the case against him was split as CC 14/19. Later the accused surrendered before the Court.
The Court conducted the trial jointly in both the CCs. The Court convicted the accused persons in both the CCs. Accused T.S.R. Vasudevan, Private. Person was sentenced to 16 years RI with a fine of Rs. 1 crore; R. Ramesh, the then Asst. General Manager, Bank of Maharashtra and Nirmala, the then Officer, Bank of Maharashtra sentenced to 6 years RI with a fine of Rs. 1.5 lakh each and T. Vetrivel, Private Person sentenced to 4 years RI with a fine of Rs. 1 lakh. Accused Sh. T. Palani died during the course of trial and charges against him abated.
