On December 16, 2024, the Special Judicial Magistrate Court (Pollution), CBI cases, Lucknow, sentenced Shri Sardar Ahmad Khan, a private individual, to two years of imprisonment with a fine of Rs. 10,000 in connection with a bank fraud case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered the case on June 28, 2005, following a complaint from the Deputy General Manager (Vigilance) of the State Bank of India (SBI), Lucknow. The complaint alleged that between August 1, 2001, and February 6, 2004, 56 housing loans were sanctioned and disbursed from SBI’s Rajapur Branch in Allahabad. In 38 of these cases, the site or borrower was either non-existent or the plot was not identifiable. It was claimed that the loan amounts were misappropriated. Additionally, 15 personal loans were allegedly approved based on forged documents, leading to a loss of approximately Rs. 1.6 crore for SBI.
After a thorough investigation, the CBI filed three chargesheets against the accused. In one case, two individuals, Vinay Kumar Srivastava and Raman Kumar Srivastava, were convicted on January 19, 2024, and sentenced to two years in prison, along with a total fine of Rs. 12,000. Another trial is ongoing for accused Sanjay Kesharwani.
The chargesheet filed on July 24, 2007, against Shri Sardar Ahmad Khan revealed that he fraudulently obtained a housing loan of Rs. 3.5 lakh from SBI’s Rajapur Branch using forged income tax returns. He failed to repay the loan, leading to the charges. After completing the trial, the court found Khan guilty and sentenced him to imprisonment.
The case highlights the ongoing efforts to combat fraud in the banking sector and hold individuals accountable for financial misconduct.
