Pune CBI court jails two proprietors 3 years in ₹5.5 crore bank fraud
Synopsis
A Pune CBI court has sentenced two proprietors to three years' rigorous imprisonment for a ₹5.58 crore fraud on the State Bank of Hyderabad — a case first registered in 2001 that took over two decades to reach verdict. The bank's own branch manager and assistant manager, also charged, were acquitted.
Key Takeaways
A special CBI court in Pune convicted Chandrakant Lodha and Paresh Thakkar on Monday, 7 July , sentencing each to 3 years' rigorous imprisonment .
The fraud caused a wrongful loss of ₹5.58 crore to the State Bank of Hyderabad .
Lodha deposited 18 high-value accommodation cheques totalling ₹6.75 crore issued by Thakkar from his account at Nashik People's Cooperative Bank .
Kale , also charged, were acquitted of all charges.
The CBI registered the case on 9 October 2001 ; the charge sheet was filed on 28 August 2003 .
The case was transferred from Nashik to Pune court in 2025 following CBI court jurisdiction reorganisation in Maharashtra.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Pune has convicted and sentenced two private company proprietors to three years of rigorous imprisonment in a bank fraud case that caused a wrongful loss of over ₹5.58 crore to the State Bank of Hyderabad, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday, 7 July.
Who Was Convicted
The two convicted persons are Chandrakant Lodha, proprietor of M/s Chandrakant S. Lodha & Co., and Paresh Thakkar, proprietor of M/s Thakkar and Sons. The judgment was pronounced on Monday. Notably, two bank officials — B.R. Dagde, the then Branch Manager, and V.L. Kale, the then Assistant Manager of the State Bank of Hyderabad — were acquitted of all charges.
How the Fraud Was Carried Out
According to the CBI, the accused allegedly conspired to defraud the bank by depositing high-value cheques that were credited to accounts without waiting for clearance from the issuing bank. Lodha deposited 18 high-value accommodation cheques totalling ₹6.75 crore, issued by Thakkar from his proprietorship account maintained with Nashik People's Cooperative Bank.
The CBI further alleged that Kale, with the approval of Branch Manager Dagde, authorised withdrawals by permitting Lodha to issue high-value cheques from his current account before the deposited cheques had cleared. Lodha allegedly issued these cheques in his own name and in the names of associate concerns — M/s A.C. Enterprises and M/s Akshay Traders — causing the bank a wrongful loss of ₹5.58 crore.
Timeline of the Case
The CBI registered the case on 9 October 2001 based on a complaint filed by the bank, naming all four individuals. A charge sheet was filed on 28 August 2003. The case was originally handled by a Nashik court before being transferred to a Pune court in 2025 following the reorganisation of CBI court jurisdictions in Maharashtra. The more than two-decade-long legal process underscores the complexity of financial fraud prosecutions in India's judicial system.
Significance of the Verdict
This conviction is part of the CBI's sustained drive against banking sector fraud, which has cost Indian public-sector lenders thousands of crores over the years. The acquittal of the two bank officials, however, raises questions about institutional accountability — a recurring concern in cases where insider facilitation is alleged but difficult to prove beyond reasonable doubt. The verdict serves as a reminder of the legal exposure faced by business proprietors who exploit banking system vulnerabilities.
Point of View
But the acquittal of both bank officials points to a familiar gap in India's financial fraud prosecutions: insider facilitation is routinely alleged, rarely proven. The cheque-kiting method used here — crediting uncleared high-value instruments and allowing withdrawals against them — is a decades-old vulnerability that banks have since tightened, yet cases from that era continue to clog CBI courts. That this 2001 case reached a verdict only in 2025 reflects a systemic delay that erodes deterrence. A three-year sentence, while legally valid, is unlikely to shift the risk calculus for white-collar offenders operating at far larger scales today.
NationPress
7 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Pune CBI court bank fraud case about?
The case involved two proprietors who allegedly conspired to defraud the State Bank of Hyderabad of ₹5.58 crore by depositing high-value cheques and withdrawing funds before those cheques cleared. The CBI first registered the case in October 2001 based on a complaint from the bank.
Who was convicted and what is the sentence?
Chandrakant Lodha of M/s Chandrakant S. Lodha & Co. and Paresh Thakkar of M/s Thakkar and Sons were each convicted and sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment by the special CBI court in Pune.
Were the bank officials also convicted?
No. B.R. Dagde, the then Branch Manager, and V.L. Kale, the then Assistant Manager of the State Bank of Hyderabad, were both acquitted of all charges despite being named in the original CBI complaint and charge sheet.
Why did the case take over two decades to conclude?
The CBI registered the case in October 2001 and filed a charge sheet in August 2003, but the proceedings stretched across multiple courts. In 2025, the case was transferred from Nashik to Pune following a reorganisation of CBI court jurisdictions in Maharashtra, contributing to the prolonged timeline.
How was the fraud executed?
According to the CBI, Lodha deposited 18 high-value accommodation cheques worth ₹6.75 crore — issued by Thakkar from his Nashik People's Cooperative Bank account — and was allegedly permitted to withdraw funds before those cheques were cleared. He reportedly issued cheques in his own name and in the names of associate firms M/s A.C. Enterprises and M/s Akshay Traders.
