Visakhapatnam, March 17 – The CBI Court in Visakhapatnam has convicted and sentenced two individuals, including a former bank employee, to five years in prison in a bank fraud case.
Vempadapu Santhoshi Ramu, who was a clerk-cum-cashier at Andhra Bank in Cheepurupalli, Vizianagaram district, and was subsequently dismissed from service, along with Mahanthi Ramana of Nadipaina Peta, have been given the sentence.
The CBI Court, in its order issued on Monday, also imposed a total fine of Rs. 1,71,42,000 on the convicted individuals, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The CBI had registered the case against the accused on June 13, 2018. It was alleged that Vempadapu Santhoshi Ramu, the then clerk-cum-cashier, had conspired with Mahanthi Ramana to commit criminal breach of trust and misappropriated an amount of Rs. 1,71,41,162, which was entrusted to him for deposit into the account of Cheepurupalli Rural Electric Co-operative Society Ltd.
The Cheepurupalli Rural Electric Co-operative Society Ltd was responsible for collecting power consumption charges from consumers in the Vizianagaram district.
After completing its investigation, the CBI filed the chargesheet on January 10 against Vempadapu Santhoshi Ramu and Mahanthi Ramana.
Following the trial, the CBI Court convicted and sentenced the accused accordingly, the Central agency said.
In December 2025, the CBI Court had sentenced a former official of the Steel Authority of India Limited to three years in prison in a case of disproportionate assets.
The court convicted and sentenced Ragam Kishore, who was then the Regional Manager, Branch Transport and Shipping, of the Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), Visakhapatnam, to undergo three years in prison in the disproportionate assets case.
The CBI had registered the case on July 17, 2001. It was alleged that during the period from January 1, 1988, to April 19, 2000, Ragam Kishore, while working as a public servant in different capacities at SAIL, had acquired movable and immovable assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.