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The Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Coimbatore, which is the Special Court for CBI cases, on Monday awarded four years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) to two persons in a bank loan fraud. Judge K. Sivakumar awarded the punishment and a fine of ₹15,000 each to S.S. Govindaraj, 60, and K.R. Easwaramurthy, 55, of Tiruppur district. According to the CBI, Govindaraj ran a company exporting coir products with A. Rajasekharan as his partner. To expand the business, Govindaraj approached Indian Bank’s Sivananda Colony branch in Coimbatore for a loan. Since his factory was not sufficient as a collateral to get the desired amount as loan, he sought the help of Easwaramurthy. The CBI stated that Govindaraj, Easwaramurthy and Rajasekharan hatched a conspiracy during 2008 and defrauded Sivananda Colony branch of Indian Bank to the tune of ₹95 lakh, by submitting false and forged documents in respect of the collateral security offered by Easwaramurthy. The bank detected the fraud when it verified the document of the collateral security from Easwaramurthy, while initiating provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act to auction properties for the non-performing loan. The CBI registered a case against the three persons in 2011 and launched an investigation. Rajasekaran later turned approver during the investigation and disclosed that Easwaramurthy was paid ₹25 lakh from the loan. CBI Public Prosecutor V. Surendra Mohan said the outstanding of the loan stood at ₹12.16 crore in 2024 as informed by the bank to the court. Govindaraj and Easwaramurthy were awarded four years each for offences under Sections 120-B read with 420, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, which will run concurrently.
