KOCHI: The CBI has filed chargesheet against four SBI officers, including its deputy general manager, and a Palakkad native in connection with a loan manipulation case. The chargesheet was filed before the CBI Court in Kochi.The chargesheeted persons are M M Shoukatali, a native of Perumannur, Palakkad; Sanoj P Vincent and A M Sheriff, both engineers and approved valuers of SBI; Radhakrishnan Nair, SBI deputy general manager, and Appu Mathew John, a manager with SBI in Kottayam. The court allowed Vinod Damodaran, a consultant for SBI, to turn approver.
The case registered in 2016 pertains to irregularities in sanctioning asset-backed loan to Shoukatali. In 2015, Shoukatali approached the SBI at Kunnamkulam in Thrissur for an asset-backed loan through consultant Vinod Damodaran. After receiving the application, valuers Sanoj P Vincent and A M Sherif were assigned to evaluate 18.12 acres of land owned by Shoukatali at Vadanapilly.
Both the valuers filed separate reports stating the land was worth `15.11 crore and `16 crore, respectively. The loan was processed by Medium Enterprises Hub of SBI, Thrissur. Later, a loan of `7 crore was sanctioned from the regional office through AGM Radhakrishnan. However, from September 2015, the borrower defaulted and the loan was declared NPA.
Later, when the same land was examined by other valuers, it was found the land value was hiked three-fold by the previous evaluators. Following an internal audit by SBI, the matter was referred to CBI.
“We have received evidence related to the conspiracy hatched by SBI officers to facilitate the loan. After the loan was approved on March 21, 2015, the entire amount was transferred to the account of Shoukatali on the same day,” a CBI officer said. According to CBI, SBI incurred a loss of `3.06 crore in the deal.