A CBI court here on Tuesday convicted the former regional chief of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) for cheating HUDCO.
In a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the CBI in 2003, the official, V Arul Kumar, was accused of entering into a criminal conspiracy with Navratan Lunawat, MD of Arihant Foundation and Housing Limited, Chennai, between 1997-2003, when he sanctioned a loan of `17 crore to the latter illegally. The loan was obtained for the construction of an apartment block near Koyambedu, Arihant Majestic Towers.
However, despite a default in repayment even after the sale of flats by the loanee, Arul Kumar failed to file a case in Debts Recovery Tribunal. He was sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of `2000.