LUCKNOW ED SECURED CONVICTION OF FIVE ACCUSED IN MONEY LAUNDRING CASE

Face2News./Ghaziabad/Lucknow

Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Lucknow Zonal Office, has secured the conviction of accused V.N. Mathur, Rajeev Kumar, Arvind Chaudhary, Ankit Chaudhary and Pramod Kumar for the offence of money laundering under Section 3, punishable under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The Hon’ble Special Judge, Ghaziabad, by judgment dated 03/11/2026 in Case No. 5/23, convicted all five accused. Each  was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 3 years and a fine of ₹50,000/-, and in default of  payment of the fine, simple imprisonment for 3 months.

ED investigation was initiated on the basis of two FIRs were registered by the CBI, ACB Ghaziabad, on the complaint of the Chief Vigilance Officer, Syndicate Bank. In the scheduled offence, the Hon’ble Special Judge, CBI Court No. 2, Ghaziabad, convicted V.N. Mathur, the then Branch Manager, under the provisions of the  IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and acquitted Rajeev Kumar and Pramod Kumar.

It is noteworthy that Rajeev Kumar and Pramod Kumar, though acquitted in the  scheduled offence, have now been convicted for the offence of money laundering upon appreciation of the evidence and material placed on record by the Directorate of Enforcement.

ED investigation has revealed that V.N. Mathur, the Branch Manager of Syndicate Bank, Gajraula Branch, during 2006-07, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Late Narendra Singh, Arvind Chaudhary and others. In that conspiracy, he sanctioned loans and overdraft limits to them, their firms and associates on the basis of forged sale deeds of nonexistent properties, false non-encumbrance certificates and false valuation reports.

Further investigation has revealed that the loan proceeds, instead of being utilised for the sanctioned purpose, were withdrawn in cash and layered through various savings bank accounts and demand drafts to conceal their illicit origin. The tainted funds were thereafter integrated through the acquisition of immovable properties, including a plot at Alipur, District J.P. Nagar and a plot at Dehradun.

The accused thereby knowingly acquired, possessed, used and concealed the Proceeds of Crime and projected them as untainted property, committing
the offence of money laundering under Section 3 of the PMLA, 2002.