Retired insurance company officer sentenced to 5 years in prison | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Monday sentenced the 69-year-old managing director of Nigeria-based Prestige Assurance Limited, a subsidiary of New India Assurance Company (NIA), to five years in prison. for allegedly approving an internal memo and withdrawing fund value. ₹1.6 crore without the board’s approval.

The case was registered following a written complaint filed with the CBI by the managing director of New India Assurance. According to the FIR, accused Anand Prakash fraudulently and dishonestly approved an internal memo regarding funds under the head ‘allocation of gift and pension’, despite knowing that he was not eligible for it. He was neither a member of a contributory pension scheme nor had a Pension Savings account with the pension fund manager.

The prosecution alleged that the withdrawn amounts were due to his abuse of office as a public servant. ₹1.6 crore was fraudulently deposited into his account.

The court stated that the crime was committed by an Indian citizen outside India and that the prosecution received sanctions from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The defense stated that the relevant department providing the sanction was the Ministry of Personnel and Training, not the Ministry of Internal Affairs. His defense also argued that Prestige Assurance is a Nigerian company operating under Nigerian laws, is a separate legal entity and cannot be considered a subsidiary of an Indian company. He added that “M/s Prestige Assurance is not a Government Company and the accused has not discharged a public duty.”

The court observed that Prestige Assurance is run by a board of directors comprising majority of NIA, which holds 67% stake in Prestige Assurance. Prakash was aware that the farewell gift and pension required board approval, but he falsely claimed that it had been received.

Special sessions judge Amit Kharkar said: “What can be gathered from the circumstances of the case is that the accused, who is the Managing Director, was released various amounts for parting gift and pension, although he was not entitled to it with the approval of the Board of Directors. Therefore, this is abuse of office by a public servant and is corrupt and unlawful.” “It means resorting to external means,” he said.