A CBI Special Court here on Friday sentenced M.Gopalakrishnan, former Indian Bank Chairman and Managing Director, and six former senior executives of the Bank to one year rigorous imprisonment in a bank fraud case registered in 1997.
This was the third instance of conviction for Gopalakrishnan, who was sentenced to undergo 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) by the special CBI court in 2009 and one-year RI in another case last May.
At present, he is out on bail pending appeal. He is still facing trial in dozen other cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in mid-1990s.
In the latest case, the court also handed out similar punishment to M. Varadharajulu, a businessman, and seven others of a private company for causing a loss of Rs.31.75 crore to the bank.
The trial of the present case commenced in 2004 as the some of accused filed appeal in upper courts and Varadharajulu, one of the accused, had been absconding for many years.
On May 2, 1997, the CBI’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) registered the case.
According to the CBI, Sathyam Foods Private Ltd, was sanctioned by Indian Bank, Muthialpet branch, credit in the form of Foreign Bills Purchase (FBP) document against acceptance for Rs. 10 crore without proper appraisal of the company’s proposal.
The CBI alleged that in 1992-1996, Gopalakrishnan and six other top managers abused their official positions as public servant recommended/sanctioned the credit to Sathyam Foods without adequate security.
