Ex-CEO of Chennai-based firm among three sentenced to five years in jail in bank fraud case

A Chennai court has sentenced P Senthil Kumar, former CEO-cum-chairman of Palpap Ichinichi Software International Limited, and two others to five years' rigorous imprisonment for causing a loss of Rs 2.06 crore to Bank of India, the CBI said on Thursday.

The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court also slapped a fine of Rs 2.10 crore on the three and the Chennai-based firm, it said.

The federal agency took over the case in 2008 following a complaint from Bank of India alleging that Kumar opened 149 loan accounts under the Star Personal Loan Scheme at its Anna Salai Branch, Chennai in the names of fictitious persons showing them as employees of his company. He availed the loans by fabricating salary slips and identity cards in the names of the purported beneficiaries, he said.

The CBI filed a charge sheet against the accused within a year. This was followed by the trial in the special court.

Special Judge R Girija Rani sentenced Kumar to five years' rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 2.07 crore on him, a CBI spokesperson said.

The judge also sentenced S Kalidasan and Thanjan Chezianare to five years' rigorous imprisonment and slapped them with a fine of Rs 1 lakh each, he said.

The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Palpap Ichinichi Software International Ltd., he said.

Kumar was earlier convicted in June and sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment in a separate case of a loan fraud of Rs 4.19 crore in Indian Bank.