Ex-AGM gets jail, Rs 60-lakh fine for cheating Syndicate Bank

A Special Court for CBI cases has convicted a former AGM of Syndicate Bank and his brother for cheating and criminal breach of trust in a case of siphoning off Rs 12 crore from the Bank.

The special court sentenced J Kannan, who was an Assistant General Manager of Syndicate Bank, Yeshwanhpur branch in Bengaluru, to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and slapped a fine of Rs 60 lakh.

The other convict J Muralidharan was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for three years and ordered to pay a fine of Rs five lakh.

The CBI case was that Kannan, who had joined Syndicate Bank sometime in 2009, along with his brother siphoned off Rs 12.22 crore from the bank through online transactions.

He used to debit huge amount to the General Ledger Head Advance through drawee bills and would credit the same to his personal SB account held in the Syndicate Bank. Later, he would re-transfer the amount to his other account held at Axis Bank’s Thallakulam branch in Tamil Nadu.

This way, Kannan had transferred around Rs 10 crore to his account and Rs 2 crore to his brother Muralidharan's account at Axis Branch's Thallakulam branch. CBI's Anti-Corruption Branch had registered the case in 2012 and filed the charge sheet in 2014.

The CBI found that Kannan had access to the Yeshwantpur branch manager's password for the online system and would carry out the transactions. The incident had come to light when certain firms with Current Accounts (CA) grew suspicious about sudden transaction through their accounts.

The CBI probe revealed that Kannan had forged the drawee bills, credit vouchers and debit vouchers. Within a span of one year, Kannan had made 24 such fraudulent transactions without any credit and debit vouchers. The bank had immediately placed him under suspension, but could recover only Rs 6 crore. 

The case was argued by Special Public Prosecutor for CBI, B R Shivananda Perla. The 21st Special Judge for CBI cases  B K Naik on Wednesday pronounced punishment for the convicts.

The court convicted and sentenced Kannan for offences under Sections 120 (b), 420, 468, 409, 471 and 477 of IPC and Section 13 (1) (c), 13 (1) (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act.