Gujarat: Former bank manager convicted in 14 fraud cases, gets 3 years in jail

Ahmedabad: A former UCO Bank manager was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment after being convicted in 14 of 17 bank fraud cases against him. The cases were filed when he was posted at the bank’s Chotila branch in 2012-2013.A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court found former bank manager Medam Bhagwati Prasad Gupta guilty of corruption, cheating and forgery in the 14 cases, while no evidence was found against him in three cases.According to the prosecution, various financial facilities were sanctioned in favour of 17 private borrowers based on false and forged documents and without conducting the mandatory pre-sanction and post-sanction verification under the banking regulations.Most of the said loan accounts subsequently turned into non-performing assets (NPAs), resulting in substantial loss to the bank and ultimately to the Centre and SIDBI Bank, as the loans were sanctioned under the Udhyog Mitra scheme, backed by the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), and 75% of the loan amount was paid to UCO Bank.The CBI filed a complaint against Gupta and others, including private borrowers, in 2016.

After the investigation, the CBI filed a consolidated chargesheet in 2017 covering 17 NPA loan accounts​,​ with a total fraudulent disbursement of approximately Rs 643 lakh.​In Nov 2011, the special CBI court directed the investigator to file separate chargesheets for each loan account to ensure a fair and distinct trial for each set of accused. Accordingly, 17 chargesheets were filed and as many trials were conducted.After the trials were completed, special judge D G Rana found Gupta guilty in 14 cases. The court also convicted some of the 18 other accused and imposed fines. While sentencing the accused, the court said, “By committing this fraud, the accused did not merely cheat a bank; they stalled the dreams of honest citizens and undermined the economic integrity of the nation.” The court imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh on Gupta in each ​c​ase.