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Hyderabad, Nov 25 (IANS) A city court has sentenced the owners of a bar and a restaurant to five years of rigorous imprisonment in a money laundering case related to a bank fraud.
The court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge found L Srinivas Goud guilty of the offense of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 and sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment in the bank fraud case.
The Enforcement Director (ED) said in a statement on Tuesday that the court also imposed a fine of Rs. He and his firm Mallika Inn Bar and Restaurant were fined Rs 25,000 each.
The court found Gaur guilty of the offense of money laundering under Section 3 read with Section 4 of the PMLA.
The Hyderabad zonal office of the ED had filed a prosecution complaint against Mallika Inn Bar & Restaurant and Srinivas Goud on completion of investigation in a fraud case in which loans were fraudulently taken by Srinivas Goud by forging documents and impersonation.
A fraudster was prepared to impersonate his mother before the Federal Bank, and obtain a loan by fabricating the ownership deed documents of his mother’s property and forging her signature.
The ED said the loan was obtained by presenting it as a housing loan and for renovation of restaurants and bars, but it was diverted for other purposes and misused, thereby generating proceeds of crime and causing a loss of Rs 44.80 lakh to the bank.
During the trial, several witnesses were examined and the department’s arguments were completed. However, the accused was deliberately avoiding appearing before the court, as a result of which, the court issued non-bailable warrants against the accused on several occasions.
Despite several efforts, the accused could not be caught as he was not available at his known premises. Upon further investigation it was found that he had changed his place of residence.
Subsequently, based on electronic and human intelligence, a new address was identified, which was investigated and confirmed with court records. After this, surveillance was maintained for a week and his presence at the new address was confirmed.
He was eventually found and captured on the premises on 27 October. He was produced before the court, which sent him to judicial custody, which was extended from time to time.
Meanwhile, successive bail pleas filed by him were rejected as, considering the history of the accused, the court did not find it appropriate to release him on bail.
–IANS
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