E-Paper
Cheque fraud: Ex-SBI staffer jailed for trying to siphon off ₹19.7 lakh
The accused prepared forged cheques and presented for encashment to gain for himself wrongfully, observed the Chandigarh court while sentencing him
A local court has sentenced a former senior assistant of SBI bank to three-year imprisonment for trying to defraud the bank of ₹19.7 lakh through two forged cheques in 2012.
“The accused prepared forged cheques and presented for encashment to gain for himself wrongfully. He misused his knowledge about banking process, being a retired official of bank. Therefore, the offender should be dealt with sternly...” observed the court of judicial magistrate Parmod Kumar while sentencing the accused, Gurdev Singh, of Zirakpur.
Dismissing his prayer for leniency, the court also fined him ₹3,000.
According to the police complaint by the assistant general manager of SBI, Sector 17, the bank received two cheques through the drop box — the first for ₹9.9 lakh, dated June 9, 2012, and the second for ₹9.8 lakh, dated June 10, 2012.
The cheque was drawn on the current account of Torpedo Shoes Private Limited at Indian Overseas Bank, Kanpur branch, and issued in favour of the accused. But the cheque could not be processed. On checking with the account holder and bank concerned, it was found, such cheques were never issued.
As such, a case against Gurdev was registered at the Sector-17 police station on September 14, 2012.
Upon joining investigation, the accused shared that he was an employee with SBI from 1980 to 2001 before retiring as senior assistant. His last posting was in the bank’s treasury branch at Sector 17. He claimed that someone was trying to implicate him and he had no concern with the cheques.
Specimen signatures of the accused were taken and the result was received in November 2014. The accused was formally arrested on January 16, 2015. He was charge-sheeted in 2016, but he pleaded not guilty and opted for trial.
The prosecution examined eight witnesses, including SBI and police officials and a scientist from Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Shimla, who supported their version.
Numerous summons were issued to the director of Torpedo Shoes in Kanpur, but they came back unserved and the factory was said to have closed long back.
The defence examined two witnesses, including the accused, and made several arguments, including that none of the witnesses had seen the accused deposit the cheques and no complaint was received from the Kanpur company. Besides, the cheques were never actually encashed.
However, the court convicted the accused, observing that his connection was proved through the CFSL report and the other arguments of the defence were not sustainable.
