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Panaji, Feb 12 (IANS) Former Canara Bank officer V.V.N. Sastri and private individual, Yasin K. Sheikh, have been sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and fined a total of Rs 70,000 by a special court in North Goa in connection with a car loan fraud case, officials said on Thursday.

The sentence was pronounced by the Special Judge, CBI Court, Merces, North Goa, on February 9, after the duo was convicted in the case on January 30.

According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the case was registered on December 29, 2011, following a complaint by Canara Bank against Sastri, then an officer at the bank’s Ponda branch, and borrower Sheikh, along with unknown others.

The probe revealed that Sheikh had allegedly submitted false and forged documents to obtain a Canmobile loan of Rs 5 lakh for the purchase of a Hyundai car that he already owned. Sastri, abusing his official position, sanctioned the loan in violation of the bank’s guidelines and beyond his delegated financial powers, the agency said.

Investigations further found that Sheikh subsequently secured another Canmobile loan of Rs 5 lakh from Canara Bank’s Kolhapur branch for the same vehicle by again furnishing forged documents and concealing the earlier loan sanctioned for the car.

In effect, the accused managed to obtain two separate loans for the purchase of the same vehicle already in his possession, causing wrongful loss to the bank, the CBI stated.

After completing the investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet against Sastri and Sheikh. Following trial proceedings, the court held both accused guilty and awarded them one year of imprisonment along with a combined fine of Rs 70,000.

--IANS

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