Published Feb 23, 2023 | 1:08 AM ⚊ Updated Feb 23, 2023 | 1:10 AM
The five accused were sentenced to 7 years rigorous imprisonment. (Creative Commons)
In a bank fraud case investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Metropolitan Sessions Judge (MSJ) in Hyderabad convicted all the accused for committing the offence of money-laundering under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002.
The MSJ court sentenced two employees of Chakkilam Trade House Limited — T Jayasree and M Chinna — and three bank officials — S Narasimhan, A Sesibhushana Rao, and S Arogyam — to rigorous imprisonment (RI) for a period of seven years.
to pay a fine of Rs. 50,000 each and M/s Chakkilam Trade House Limited to pay a fine of Rs. 1 lakh for committing the offence of money laundering in a bank frud case under PMLA.
— ED (@dir_ed) February 21, 2023
Each of the accused has also been ordered to pay a fine of ₹50,000, and the court has also directed Chakkilam Trade House Limited to pay a fine of ₹1 lakh.
The ED conducted the PMLA investigation following a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Anti-Corruption Branch, Hyderabad, under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act of 1988.
The ED investigation established that Chakkilam Trade House — then represented by its director, the late Chakkilam Raghuram — fraudulently availed a loan from the State Bank of India (SBI) on the basis of fabricated financial statements, board resolution, and documents showing higher turnover, as well as fake MoUs with various parties showing business dealings.
A total amount of around ₹2.09 crore sanctioned by SBI was misappropriated and laundered.
The investigation also revealed that properties, which were mortgaged with the banks for the loan, had already been sold by the company and its promoters.
On the conclusion of the investigation, the ED filed a prosecution complaint in December 2013 against Chakkilam Trade House Limited and half a dozen accused persons, including three bank officials.
