CBI Special Court in Lucknow convicts four accused; former LIC employee fined ₹5 lakh, three others awarded three-year rigorous imprisonmentLucknow. The CBI Special Court in Lucknow has convicted four people in a ₹6.37 crore fraud case involving the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The verdict was delivered on September 30.Among those convicted is Pankaj Saxena, who was serving as a Higher Grade Assistant at LIC's Trans Gomti Branch in Jankipuram, Lucknow, at the time of the alleged fraud. The court sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh.Three other convicts — Prem Shankar Upadhyay, Rekha Upadhyay and Manish Saxena — were each sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹1.25 lakh each.Fraud Allegedly Carried Out Through Fake PolicyholdersThe CBI registered the case on August 13, 2012, following a complaint by the then Chief Manager of LIC's Trans Gomti Branch.According to the case, the accused allegedly entered into a conspiracy between February 2006 and August 2010 and prepared forged payment vouchers and cheques in the names of fictitious or non-existent policyholders.The fraudulent transactions allegedly resulted in the withdrawal of approximately ₹6.37 crore (₹6,37,66,660) from LIC funds.CBI Filed Chargesheet in 2014After completing its investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet against the accused on August 21, 2014. LIC officials connected with the Trans Gomti branch were also named in the investigation.Following a prolonged trial, the court found all four accused guilty and pronounced the sentences on September 30.Another CBI Court Conviction in Bribery CaseThe report also noted that a CBI court in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, had on the previous day sentenced former Income Tax Officer Satish Kumar Bhadani to five years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹1.5 lakh in a bribery case.Bhadani had been posted as an Income Tax Officer at the Income Tax Department's Jalgaon office when the alleged bribery offence took place.
