22 years on, 3 bank officers, guarantor get 2-year jail in loan fraud case

The guarantor of businessman Vijay Seth has been identified as Nargis Diventry (70). The other three have been identified as Srikant Padale (73), Vijaya Nair (66) and V Radhakrishnan (82).

Mumbai: A special CBI court has sentenced three officials of Dena Bank and a guarantor to two years imprisonment in connection with the case registered by the central agency in 2001 against a businessman who fraudulently availed a credit facility of ₹1.35 crore and failed to repay the amount.

Vijay Sawant, the then senior manager of the bank, did not take the original title deeds of the property in possession, in violation of the prescribed rules and willfully accepted only xerox copies to help Sheth. Sawant had retired and died before the CBI filed a chargesheet in the case. (Getty Images)

The guarantor of businessman Vijay Seth has been identified as Nargis Diventry (70). The other three have been identified as Srikant Padale (73), Vijaya Nair (66) and V Radhakrishnan (82).

As per the prosecution case, from January 2001 to March 2001, Sheth – proprietor of M/s Mirra and Company – had applied for a credit facility with the help of Diventry with forged documents.

The prosecution alleged that bank officials did not deliberately verify the genuineness of the documents submitted and did not verify the existence of the six flats given as collateral security by the businessman.

Vijay Sawant, the then senior manager of the bank, did not take the original title deeds of the property in possession, in violation of the prescribed rules and willfully accepted only xerox copies to help Sheth. Sawant had retired and died before the CBI filed a chargesheet in the case.

The prosecution had also claimed that the bank officials had conspired with others with an object to cheat and cause wrongful loss to Dena Bank, Kalbadevi Branch and cause corresponding wrongful gain to them by favouring the private parties in the matter of grant of credit facilities.