Mumbai: Man gets life sentence in 2008 loan fraud case

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A special court for CBI cases on Thursday sentenced a 38-year-old man to life imprisonment for fraudulently obtaining loans of over Rs 2.80 crore from the Andhra Bank in 2008.

Then manager of the bank's Ghodbunder branch in neighbouring Thane was awarded 10 years' jail term, while three others were sentenced to three years' imprisonment for conspiracy on Thursday.

Besides awarding him life imprisonment, CBI Judge S R Tamboli also imposed a fine of R3.13 crore on Rajendra Patil. Bandlamudi Mahipal, the former branch manager, was ordered to pay Rs 3.40 lakh.

The accused were held guilty under IPC Sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) as well as under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

According to the prosecution, Patil approached Andhra Bank's Ghodbunder Road branch for a vehicle loan and a loan against property in 2008. Initially, he had applied for a loan of Rs 2.03 crore to purchase 15 high-end luxury cars, claiming that the vehicles were to be given on lease to Kent Cars Private Limited at a monthly rent of Rs 11.25 lakh.

The probe revealed that Patil had submitted fake documents (bogus car registration cards) and had not bought cars with the loan he got. He was also disbursed a loan of R80 lakh against a flat in Thane. It later came to light that Patil had tried to obtain another loan using the same flat as collateral from the Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank. Upon verification, the co-operative bank found that the flat ownership documents he had submitted were fake.

The probe revealed that Patil obtained loans fraudulently from the Andhra Bank in connivance with Mahipal and others. The prosecution examined 50 witnesses during the trial, said public prosecutor Jitendra Kumar Sharma. Patil has two more similar cases pending against him in the same court, an official said.

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