A special court in Pune sentenced four people to jail and slapped a fine of Rs 1 crore each on Varron Aluminium Pvt. Ltd. and Varron Auto Comp Pvt. Ltd. on Tuesday in a Rs 300 crore scam pertaining to 246 fraudulent bills submitted in Bank of India against Letter of Credit issued by Canara Bank, officials said. The court sentenced S R Hegde, then chief manager of Canara Bank posted at Deccan Gymkhana Branch in Pune in Maharashtra, to five-year rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 1 lakh, the agency said in a statement.
Ganesh Kolhe, then account assistant of the companies, was sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh. Another account assistant, Ganesh Gaikwad, and Manoj S Salvi, proprietor of Ratna Metal Mart, were sentenced to three-year rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 1 lakh each, CBI spokesperson R C Joshi said in a statement here. "The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore each on Varron Aluminium Pvt. Ltd., Pune and Varron Auto Comp Pvt. Ltd., Pune (both accused in the case)," he said.
Three other accused, including the director of both companies, died during the period following which the proceedings were abated against them, Joshi said. The decision came within five years of the CBI registering the FIR on a complaint from Bank of India in the matter of discounting 246 bills worth over Rs 300 crore against Letter of Credit (LC) issued by Canara Bank.
"It was alleged that the accused hatched conspiracy and in pursuance of the conspiracy, the Managing Director of both the companies, VAPL and VACPL, got issued fraudulent Letter of Credit (LC) on February 29, 2016 through the then Chief Manager of Canara Bank, Deccan Gymkhana Branch, Pune," he said. Letters of Credit are a guarantee issued by a bank on behalf of its client.
The fraudulent bills were discounted by Bank of India in the name of other companies but the money came back to the accounts of Varron Group of Companies which was used to settle its liabilities with State Bank of India, he said. "After investigation, a charge sheet was filed in the court of special judge, CBI cases, Pune against the accused. The trial court found the accused guilty and convicted them," Joshi said.
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