A Special CBI Court in Kochi has convicted four persons and acquitted three others, including two former officials of the erstwhile State Bank of Travancore (SBT), in a nearly two-decade-old loan fraud case involving the fraudulent availing of a ₹96.80-lakh loan by mortgaging protected government forest land using forged documents and impersonation.

Special Court Judge Sabarinathan P. passed the verdict. The prosecution was represented by M. Navas, Senior Public Prosecutor.

K.A. Sebastian, 68, of Pattambi in Palakkad, P.T. Augustine, 63, and Joby Chacko, 56, of Koodanrahi in Kozhikode, and K. Jayaprakash, 51, of Iringole in Perumbavoor, were convicted of fraudulently securing credit worth ₹96 lakh. They were found guilty under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including forgery, criminal conspiracy, and impersonation. All four were sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.

Sebastian and Jayaprakash, accused three and seven, were sentenced to single imprisonment terms of two years each and fined of ₹50,000 each. Augustine and Joby, fifth and sixth accused, were sentenced to multiple prison terms of seven years and fined ₹1.70 lakh, though their sentences will run concurrently.

The court, however, acquitted T. Chandran, 71, former SBT chief manager, and Mani T. Cherian, 75, manager (agriculture) – the first and second accused respectively. Though the CBI had arraigned the two officials as accused on suspicion of criminal conspiracy, the court acquitted them for lack of sufficient evidence. Proceedings against Johny Chacko, the fourth accused, and bank-panel valuator Santhosh Kumar, who later turned approver, were dropped following their deaths during the trial.

According to the prosecution, the accused forged sale deeds for 34 acres of ecologically fragile government forest land in Karuvarakundu village in Nilambur, Malappuram. They allegedly created forged ownership documents, impersonated fictitious landowners and then fraudulently mortgaged the land to obtain loans worth ₹96 lakh from the Aluva branch of the SBT. Only ₹85,000 of the loan was repaid. The bank came to know about the forgery when it attempted to attach the property to recover the dues.

Published - August 07, 2026 08:40 pm IST