BENGALURU: A man who impersonated as personal secretary of then Chief Minister N Dharam Singh and collected money from several gullible persons on the pretext of getting them allotted sites from Bangalore Development Authority under the CM’s discretionary quota, has been sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment with a hefty fine of Rs 1.15 crore by a city civil and sessions court.
The court noted the accused, John Michael, had impersonated himself as the personal secretary of the then chief minister, which is a serious aspect. The accused is a habitual offender, having been convicted in two other cases before this court, the court said.
A City Civil and Sessions Judge Satish J Bali passed the order on April 25, sentencing Michael, who was working as a marketing executive, on the charge sheet filed by the Criminal Investigation Department after it was entrusted with the case.
The commission of the offence was in 2005, and the report of the case was in 2010, following the complaint filed by N Sridharan, with Ramamurthy Nagar police in the city, for inducing the victims to deliver a sum of Rs 1.14 crore.
The accused was charged for the offences punishable under IPC Sections 419, 420, 465, 468 and 471.
The investigating officer secured the presence of the accused, who led to a place where he had allegedly burnt seal, etc., which were used to create sale deeds, lease cum agreement of sale, allotment letter and the necessary mahazar were drawn at that place and a laptop and printer, which were allegedly used by the accused to create those forged documents were also recovered during the investigation.