Panaji: Almost two decades later, a North Goa court sentenced a Ponda bank employee and a businessman to simple imprisonment of 1 year under the Prevention of Corruption Act, for conspiring an illegal vehicle loan.Valiveti Venkata Narasimha Sastry was the Officer (Scale 1) of a bank in Ponda during 2007, when he is said to have sanctioned the loan.
As per the prosecution, Sastry sanctioned a vehicle loan to Yasin K Shaikh for the purchase of a second-hand Hyundai Accent, which was already registered in the latter’s name.A native of Kolhapur, Shaikh stayed at Usgao during 2006-07, and was engaged in the business of iron ore transport in Goa and Belgaum.Sastry is accused of abusing his position and sanctioning the loan without verifying the details of the second-hand vehicle, RC book, and insurance policy. The loan was sanctioned on forged and fraudulent documents, and the application for the loan was undated.Sastry was already dismissed from service in April 2009 and was reinstated with demotion. He was transferred to the Shorapur, Karnataka branch of the bank. As per the charge, he did not have the discretionary powers to sanction the loan.
