A Chief Judicial Magistrate court here has convicted 12 government officials, including former Personal Assistant to Virudhunagar Collector (Small Savings), Nagamuthu, on charges of misappropriation of savings fund to the tune of ₹14.43 lakh. They were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for three years.
The charge against the officials was that they conspired to siphon off money in 2007 by forging accounts meant for providing commission to the small saving agents. The prosecution said that one of the agents, Raju, had created two more forged agents in the name of his wife and daughter, and helped the officials to swindle the money.
The agent was one of the 14 accused, but he died during the course of the trial.
Following a tip-off about the modus operandi, the Virudhunagar unit of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) registered the case in 2007 and it was chargesheeted in 2009.
One acquitted
DVAC produced 34 witnesses and 64 documents in support of the conspiracy in which 13 others, including junior assistants and extension officers, were involved.
The accused were booked for criminal conspiracy, forgery, cheating and criminal breach of trust and under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.
When the case came up for final hearing, the CJM, Vasanthi, acquitted one of them.
The other 12 accused including the Personal Assistant to the Collector (Noon Meals) were awarded three years imprisonment on six counts and six months jail on one count. However, the judge ordered them to undergo the punishment concurrently. The court also imposed a fine of ₹1.21 lakh on each of them.
