ED secures conviction of five in Syndicate Bank loan fraud case (Representative image)
A special court in Ghaziabad has sentenced all five accused to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on each. The judgment was pronounced by the Special Judge, Ghaziabad, on November 3, 2026, in Case No. 5/23 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The court convicted all five of money laundering under Section 3, punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA.
The investigation was initiated following the registration of two FIRs by the Central Bureau of Investigation’s Anti-Corruption Branch (CBI-ACB), Ghaziabad, on a complaint filed by Syndicate Bank’s Chief Vigilance Officer, according to the ED. LUCKNOW: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Lucknow Zonal Office, has secured the conviction of five people in a money laundering case linked to an alleged bank loan fraud involving Syndicate Bank ‘s Gajraula branch. The convicted persons have been identified as VN Mathur, Rajeev Kumar, Arvind Chaudhary, Ankit Chaudhary and Pramod Kumar. In case of default in payment of the fine, each convict will have to undergo an additional three months of simple imprisonment.
The underlying investigation concerned alleged irregularities in the sanctioning and disbursement of loans and overdraft facilities during 2006-07, when V N Mathur was the branch manager of Syndicate Bank’s Gajraula branch. 2, Ghaziabad, had convicted Mathur under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, while acquitting Kumar and Pramod Kumar. The ED investigation revealed that Mathur allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy with late Narendra Singh, Arvind Chaudhary and others to obtain bank loans and overdraft facilities using forged sale deeds of non-existent properties, fabricated non-encumbrance certificates and false property valuation reports. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Lucknow | Silver Rate in Lucknow | Bank Holidays in Lucknow | Public Holidays in Lucknow | Lucknow AQI | Weather in Lucknow | Petrol Price in Lucknow | Diesel Price in Lucknow | CNG Price in Lucknow | LPG Price in Lucknow Stay updated with the latest Lucknow news.
The ED said the conviction of all five accused in the PMLA case followed the court’s assessment of the evidence and material placed on record by the agency, which established their involvement in laundering the proceeds of crime. The loans were sanctioned in the names of the accused, their firms and associates on the basis of these allegedly fraudulent documents. Investigators further found that the loan proceeds were not used for their sanctioned purposes. Instead, the money was allegedly withdrawn in cash and routed through multiple savings bank accounts and demand drafts to conceal its origin and movement. The proceeds of the alleged crime were subsequently invested in immovable properties, including a plot in Alipur in the then J P Nagar district and another plot in Dehradun, thereby integrating the illicit funds into the formal economy. The ED maintained that the accused knowingly acquired, possessed, used and concealed the proceeds of crime and projected them as untainted assets, attracting the provisions of the PMLA. Significantly, Rajeev Kumar and Pramod Kumar, who had been acquitted in the underlying scheduled offence, have now been convicted in the separate money laundering proceedings. In the original case, the Special Judge, CBI Court No. Download the TOI App.