The Enforcement Directorate (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 news agency IANS reported on Wednesday, November 4.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

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 a fine of Rs 50,000; in default of payment, they will undergo an additional three months of simple imprisonment.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The ED initiated its investigation on the basis of two FIRs registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) Anti-Corruption Branch, Ghaziabad, following a complaint by the Chief Vigilance Officer of Syndicate Bank. In the underlying scheduled offence, the Special Judge, CBI Court No. 2, Ghaziabad, had earlier convicted V.N. Mathur, the then branch manager, under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, while acquitting Rajeev Kumar and Pramod Kumar. The ED stated that Rajeev Kumar and Pramod Kumar have now been convicted of money laundering on the basis of the evidence and material the agency placed on record.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

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 the late Narendra Singh, Arvind Chaudhary and others, and 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.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

Investigators found that the loan proceeds were not used for their sanctioned purposes: the funds were withdrawn in cash and routed through various savings bank accounts and demand drafts to conceal their illicit origins, and were subsequently invested in immovable properties, including plots in Alipur, in J.P. Nagar district, and in Dehradun. The ED stated that the accused knowingly acquired, possessed, used and concealed the proceeds of crime and projected them as untainted property, committing the offence of money laundering under the PMLA. The convictions were also carried in roundups of Wednesday's Lucknow and Uttar Pradesh news by other outlets reporting the ED announcement.