Beyond Syndicate Bank: Officials at these banks also bent laws to help rich clients

On Saturday, news broke that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested government-owned Syndicate Bank’s Chairman and Managing Director S K Jain in Bangalore for allegedly taking Rs 50 lakh bribe for irregular enhancement of credit limit of certain companies. This is the first instance after the Modi government came to power where a public sector banker has been booked in a graft case.

But this isn’t the first time the top executives at state-run entities have been charged in graft cases. Here are some of the other past instances where top executives from government-owned entities had run-ins with the law.

- State Bank of India

In November 2013, the CBI registered a case against SBI’s deputy MD Shyamal Acharya who was also the head of mid-corporate wing of the bank, former assistant general manager K K Kumarah and a businessman Piyush Goyal for alleged graft in disbursing loans of above Rs 100 crore.

The agency sources said Goyal wanted a loan of over Rs 100 crore from SBI for his firm when Kumarah got involved. They said Kumarah assured him of his contacts in the bank through which he could get that loan passed.Kumarah allegedly demanded Rs 25 lakh as bribe for himself and an undisclosed amount for Acharya from Goyal to get this loan passed.Acharya was alleged to have asked for Rs 15 lakh to clear the loan proposal and, according to the CBI, he was given a couple of luxury watches as the first instalment.Apart from that, it was reported that several assets which may be disproportionate to his income such as fixed deposits and a large quantity of gold, were found at Acharya’s home.

Acharya was forced to go on leave but returned to the bank in March 2014 asDMD at the inspection and management audit department after being cleared of the charges.

- LIC Housing Finance

In November 2010,the CBI arrested the CEO of LIC Housing Finance, Ramachandran Nair, LIC Secretary (Investment) Naresh K Chopra and six other senior bankers in connection with a housing-finance racket. The charges against the officials were thatwhile sanctioning large scale loans to corporates, they were working in collusion with loan arranger firm Money Matters and overlooked regulatory guidelines for granting such approvals, for their individual monetary gains.

- Corporation Bank

Former Corporation Bank CMD Ramnath Pradeep was accused of multiple charges, in November 2010, including overlooking regulations while sanctioning loans, changing rules for appointments and extending loans to ineligible borrowers.

With inputs from agencies