The CBI court of Ghaziabad has sentenced KK Bhardwaj, former branch manager of District UCO Bank, to 5 years imprisonment. A fine of Rs 70 thousand has also been imposed on him. KK Bhardwaj was the manager of Taharpur Bhabisa branch in Muzaffarnagar district at the time the case was registered. It is alleged that KK Bhardwaj made a fake certificate while being a bank manager. On the basis of this certificate, Rs 48 lakh was withdrawn from the bank through draft and got the benefit of income tax exemption.
The CBI had registered a case against KK Bhardwaj and unknown persons on 31 March 1993. The allegation was that during the year 1991-92, KK Bhardwaj, while working as a manager, hatched a criminal conspiracy with a private person. Under this, a private person opened two savings accounts in the said branch of the bank under two fake names Ashok Kumar Sharma and Narendra Kumar Goyal. KK Bhardwaj gave permission to open them.
After this, Rs 27 lakh was deposited in the account named Ashok Kumar on 24 December 1991 and 4 November 1992. Later a check was given by the private individual. On the basis of which drafts worth Rs 27 lakh were prepared in the names of three people. Similarly, Rs 21 lakh was deposited in the account of Narendra Kumar Goyal. These were also taken out through 8 drafts. These drafts were issued by branch manager KK Bhardwaj. He had certified that these drafts were issued from the NRI account and the funds were received in convertible foreign currency.
On the basis of this certificate issued by branch manager KK Bhardwaj, people who received money through demand draft claimed exemption in income tax under the Foreign Exchange (Protection) Scheme 1991. Investigation found that the manager had made the certificate fake so that the accused could get income tax exemption. CBI presented charge sheet against KK Bhardwaj and the said private person in this case on 23 February 1996.
The trial of this case took place in the CBI court of Ghaziabad. The trial court also took cognizance against five other accused persons, who were chartered accountants. The court separated KK Bhardwaj from the five other accused. The CBI court on Wednesday found KK Bhardwaj guilty and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment.