Lucknow, Sep 23 (IANS) A Special CBI Court in Lucknow sentenced a bank official and two others to three-year imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 1.25 lakh each, for a fraud resulting in a loss of Rs 6.80 crore to the bank, an official said on Tuesday.

The CBI court convicted and sentenced Pankaj Khare, Deputy Chief Manager, Bank of India, two private persons – Rajesh Khanna and Shamshul Haq Siddiqui – in a case registered in 2008 on the complaint of Bank of India, said the CBI official.

The three were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1.25 lakh each for the fraud during 2004-06, the official said in a statement.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on an accused private company, Anita Contractor and Construction Private Limited, in the case, said the statement.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered the case on July 9, 2008, on the basis of a complaint of the Assistant General Manager, Bank of India, Main Branch, Hazratganj, Lucknow.

The complaint said that from 2004 to 2006, the accused entered into a criminal conspiracy with others and cheated the Bank of India, Lucknow Branch, by availing a cash credit facility on the basis of forged and fabricated non-existent work orders.

The company and its officials also submitted forged property documents for the creation of an equitable mortgage and utilised the amount for purposes other than for which it was sanctioned and thereby caused a wrongful loss to the bank to the tune of Rs 6.80 crore and corresponding wrongful gain to themselves, said the complaint.

After investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet on December 23, 2009, against the accused, including Anita Jain, Managing Director of Anita Contractor and Construction Private Limited; Mohd. Isteyaq Khan, a private person; Pankaj Khare, Deputy Chief Manager, Bank of India; Poonam Sinha, a private person; Prem Prakash Asthana, Chief Manager, Bank of India; Rajesh Khanna, a private person; Shamshul Haq Siddiqui, a private person; Sudhir Kumar Jain, proprietor of Jamuna Construction Company and Director of Anita Contractor and Construction Private Limited; and Anita Contractor and Construction Private Limited (through Anita Jain).

The CBI statement said Prem Prakash Ashthana and Poonam Sinha have been discharged by the Special CBI Court. Sudhir Jain and Mohd. Isteyaq Khan expired during the trial of the case.

–IANS

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