Former banker among 3 acquitted in alleged scam of over Rs 20 crore
A local court has acquitted three persons, including Rajinder Singh Kalsi, a former bank manager at the Punjab and Sind Bank branch in Sector 24, Chandigarh, in an alleged multi-crore fraud case registered on November 15, 2012, after the prosecution failed to prove the charges. The two other accused who have been acquitted include a liquor contractor, Karan Thakur, and a businessman of Mohali, Pardeep Goel.
The police have registered a case under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC at the Sector 11 police station in 2012 on the complaint of the bank officials.
The ‘fraud’ of over Rs 20 crore came to light during the annual audit carried out by the manager (inspection) of the bank, who allegedly found huge irregularities in all sanctioned loans and submitted a complaint to the police, which registered a case in this connection.
The police claimed in the charge-sheet that the scrutiny of housing loans revealed that all loans, in lakhs, were issued on fictitious names and plots. As per the prosecution, Rajinder was posted in Sector 24 when the alleged fraud was committed. He was heading the loan section of the branch from June 2010 till June 2012 and during his term he had allegedly sanctioned a total of 116 loans on alleged fictitious names and forged documents. The police alleged that Kalsi used the passwords of his subordinate staff members in these transactions.
He released the loan amount by way of credit in savings accounts opened in the name of fictitious persons. The two other accused helped him in the alleged scam.
Munish Dewan, counsel of the accused, argued that the prosecution had no record to prove that the accused were involved in the alleged fraud. The police failed to show the original files of the alleged loans, he added. After hearing the arguments the court acquitted the accused of the charges framed against them.
