Overview
- A special CBI court in Mumbai convicted Harit Mehta, Abhay Mehta, Manoj Kumar Mathur and Ilesh Shah for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.
- Sentences and fines: Harit Mehta received five years and a ₹3.50 crore fine; Abhay Mehta got five years and a ₹1 crore fine; Manoj Kumar Mathur and Ilesh Shah were each sentenced to three years with ₹50,000 fines.
- Bank of India’s Nariman Point branch discounted a July 20, 2009 LC purportedly issued by HDFC Bank for Jayant Agro Organic Ltd, with ₹3.55 crore released and ₹2.47 crore credited to Infinite Transmission.
- The court found Mathur bypassed required checks, relying on a dubious phone verification, and also held him guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
- Defence claims that the LC was genuine and pleas citing roughly ₹2 crore recovered via an auction were rejected after issuer-bank testimony and extensive witness evidence.