Lucknow, Nov 4 (IANS) The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Lucknow Zonal Office, has secured the conviction of five accused in a money laundering case linked to a bank loan fraud involving Syndicate Bank, with a special court in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, sentencing each of them to three years of rigorous imprisonment.

The Special Judge, Ghaziabad, convicted V.N. Mathur, Rajeev Kumar, Arvind Chaudhary, Ankit Chaudhary and Pramod Kumar under Section 3, punishable under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, through a judgment dated November 3, in Case No. 5/23.

The court awarded each convict three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000. In default of payment, they will undergo an additional three months of simple imprisonment.

The ED initiated its investigation based on two FIRs registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), Ghaziabad, following a complaint by the Chief Vigilance Officer of Syndicate Bank.

In the scheduled offence, the Special Judge, CBI Court No. 2, Ghaziabad, had convicted V.N. Mathur, the then Branch Manager, under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, while acquitting Rajeev Kumar and Pramod Kumar.

However, the ED stated that Rajeev Kumar and Pramod Kumar have now been convicted of money laundering based on the evidence and material placed on record by the agency.

According to the investigation, Mathur, who was the Branch Manager of Syndicate Bank’s Gajraula branch during 2006-07, entered into a criminal conspiracy with late Narendra Singh, Arvind Chaudhary and others.

As part of the conspiracy, he sanctioned loans and overdraft limits to them, their firms and associates on the basis of forged sale deeds of non-existent properties, false non-encumbrance certificates and fabricated valuation reports.

The investigation further revealed that the loan proceeds were not utilised for their sanctioned purposes. Instead, the funds were withdrawn in cash and routed through various savings bank accounts and demand drafts to conceal their illicit origins.

The proceeds were subsequently invested in immovable properties, including plots in Alipur, J.P. Nagar district, and Dehradun.

The ED stated that the accused knowingly acquired, possessed, used and concealed the proceeds of crime and projected them as untainted property, thereby committing the offence of money laundering under the PMLA, 2002.

–IANS

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