Indian Bank’s ex-CMD gets jail in fraud case

A designated CBI court in Chennai sentenced M Gopalakrishnan, former chairman and MD of Indian Bank, to undergo seven-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 70 lakh in a cheating case. Abhishek Sharan reports.

A designated Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Chennai sentenced M Gopalakrishnan, former chairman and managing director of Indian Bank, to undergo seven-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 70 lakh in a cheating case resulting Rs 8.67 crore loss to the bank.

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Apart from Gopalakrishnan, co-accused AV Shanmugasundaram, who was the additional general manager of the bank’s Fort branch in Mumbai, was also convicted by the court and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years with a fine of Rs 80 lakh.

The agency had charged Shanmugasundaram for abusing his powers by recommending credit facilities to PJ Pipes and Vessels Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, though the company was not eligible for bank finance since it had already availed of the maximum permissible bank finance.

According to the CBI’s charge sheet in the case, during 1989-92, Gopalakrishnan and Shanmugasundaram were part of criminal conspiracy with the directors of PJ Pipes & Vessels (P) Ltd.”