Ketan Parekh gets one-year jail term for Canfina scam
Ketan Parekh gets one-year jail term for Canfina scam
PremiumWhat next? A file picture of stockbroker Ketan Parekh.
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday sentenced stockbrokers Ketan Parekh and Hiten Dalal, along with five others to one year rigorous imprisonment, while two other accused were sentenced to six months imprisonment in the 1992 Canfina scam.
Currently all are out on bail, and justice V.M. Kanade of the special court (for trial of offences relating to transactions in Securities Act) has extended their bail till 31 July so as to enable them to file appeals in Supreme Court.
Parekh’s name surfaced for the first time through the scam, in which the accused had entered into a criminal conspiracy to “siphon off Rs47 crore".
“Had he been convicted and jailed earlier, he would not have committed other offences," justice Kanade said, in reference to Parekh’s involvement in later scams.
The modus operandi of the scam was as follows: huge amounts of money was transferred from Banglore-based Canbank Financial Services (Canfina), a subsidiary of Canara Bank, to Mumbai-based Canbank Mutual Fund (CBMF), another subsidiary of Canara Bank between October 1991 and January 1992.
This was purportedly for the purchase of government securities for Canfina, but in reality, the money was transferred to the accounts of Parekh, Dalal and three other stockbrokers, namely S.K. Jhaveri, Pallav Seth and Navinchandra Parekh, Ketan’s uncle.
The brokers used the money —to the tune of Rs47.7 crore —for investing in the stock market. At the end of the financial year, the money was returned to Canfina. The court on 13 March convicted the five brokers along with Canfina’s former assistant vice-presidents Sainath Mohan, M.K. Ashok Kumar and former general manager of CBMF B.R. Acharya for criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of funds and cheating.
“We have the option open for appeal and we will definitely keep the option," Ketan Parekh told NDTV, when asked whether he would appeal to the Supreme Court.
(Reuters contributed to this story.)
"Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels 🚀 Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here!
