The special judge for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases, Gandhinagar, on Thursday sentenced accused Preeti Vijay Sahjwani, then senior manager, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Vastrapur branch, Ahmedabad to seven years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 15,06,50,000.
The order was in a case related to offences of criminal breach of trust and forgery causing wrongful losses to the bank. The court ordered that the fine imposed go to the complainant bank.
CBI registered a case on October 29, 2001 on a complaint by the then senior regional manager of the bank. The accused had allegedly cheated the bank of Rs 2,14,93,940 by crediting the final maturity payment of Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR) deposits of two accounts into two fictitious accounts. This was done without any authority letter from the depositor or from a power of attorney holder.
Demand loans/cash credits were sanctioned for the fictitious accounts amounting to Rs 1,40,50,000 against security of un-surrendered deposit receipts of actual depositors, by making alterations in the amount, date, maturity value, and other details.
Charge sheet filed
After completion of the investigation, a charge sheet was filed on October 15, 2003 against the accused. Investigations revealed that Preeti Vijay Sahijwani misused her official position to deposit the final maturity payment of FCNR deposits of two persons into a Cash Credit (CC) account and a savings bank account in the name of fictitious persons.
Moreover, demand loans/cash credits were sanctioned in the names of five other fake persons against the security of un-surrendered deposit receipts of the actual depositors by changing details. As such, the accused caused wrongful loss of over Rs 2 crores including interest as on July 27, 2001.
The accused was absconding during the investigation. Her presence was ensured through a Red Corner Notice. She was detained by Canadian Immigration authorities and deported to India on January 11, 2012. On arrival, she was produced before the special court, CBI Ahmedabad, which sent her to judicial custody.
During the trial, 23 prosecution witnesses were examined and 158 documents were produced as evidence. After the pronouncement of the judgement, the accused was taken into custody.
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