The CBI registered a case in February 2016 against Sheetal Refineries Limited and its directors on the allegations of committing bank fraud.
Published May 10, 2023 | 7:10 AM ⚊ Updated May 10, 2023 | 7:10 AM
A CBI trial court. (Creative Commons)
A special court for CBI cases in Hyderabad has sentenced RP Garg, former assistant general manager of the Punjab National Bank in Banjara Hills, Jitender Kumar Agarwal, former managing director of Sheetal Refineries Limited, and two others, Sudhir Bhuraria and Manish Bhuraria, to five years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of ₹75,000 each.
The court has also imposed a fine of ₹2 lakh on the private company.
The CBI had registered a case on 2 February, 2016, against Sheetal Refineries Limited, based at Gaganpahad in Ranga Reddy district, Telangana, and its directors on the charge of committing bank fraud and causing a loss of ₹53.82 crore to Punjab National Bank.
The accused had availed credit facilities from PNB Large Corporate Branch, Hyderabad, and presented false statements, documents, and information to the bank, including share application money, false stock statements for availing the credit facilities, audited balance sheets, statements with false information, etc.
During the relevant period, the accused also opened four Letters of Credit (LCs) and the conditions in the LCs were not uniform.
The CBI said that Garg, who was the then-AGM, had not checked the difference in the amount of invoices and confirmation letter, which resulted in excess payment by the bank to the borrower.
The AGM had not imposed the condition to transport goods through Indian Banks’ Association-approved transporters and allowed the accused to submit lorry receipts where the transporter was not on the approved list.
He had also amended the LC terms and conditions without the approval of the sanctioning authority, thereby exceeding the powers delegated to him.
After the investigation, a chargesheet was filed against the six accused, including Garg, Sheetal Refineries Limited, its managing director, and others, before the designated court at Hyderabad in September 2016.
The then-CMD of Sheetal Refineries Limited passed away and the case against him was abated by the trial court.
The trial court found the accused guilty and convicted them.
