Delhi court rejects bail plea of alleged kingpin in bank fraud case

New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) A Delhi court has dismissed the bail plea of an alleged kingpin in an over Rs 8.94 crore bank fraud case, saying the offence was grave and committed in a systematic manner through layered transactions.

Additional Sessions Judge Shunali Gupta rejected the bail application of accused Nitin Birmal Dongre in an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (South) under Sections 318(4) (cheating of valuable security), 319(2)(cheating by personation), 316(4) (criminal breach of trust), 336(3)(forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable security), 340(2)(fraudulent use of forged documents), and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

“Considering the seriousness and gravity of the offence, the systematic manner in which huge amount of Rs 8.94 crores has been withdrawn from the bank account of the complainant by hatching a criminal conspiracy wherein the applicant was a kingpin and two other persons stated to be involved in the same are yet to be arrested, at this stage, I do not find any ground for grant of bail to the applicant,” the court said in its order dated February 28.

On January 10, 2008, a current account in the name of Larsen & Toubro and Shanghai Urban Construction Operation was opened at Axis Bank’s Lajpat Nagar branch in Delhi.

On June 7, 2024, forged documents were allegedly used to change the phone number linked to the account. Subsequently, in July 2024, a person claiming to be an employee of Larsen & Toubro activated corporate internet banking at Axis Bank’s Usmanabad branch in Maharashtra.

Between July 11, 2024, and August 30, 2024, Rs 8.94 crore was allegedly debited in 94 transactions and transferred to 24 accounts.

The prosecution alleged that Dongre, in conspiracy with others, siphoned off the funds and that the mobile number used for internet banking was found operating from his handset.

The investigation also revealed that the information regarding the complainant’s account was provided by the accused Ashish Khandelwal, who was an assistant manager at Axis Bank.

The investigating officer (IO) also claimed that large sums were credited to Dongre’s bank account, and that he routed the siphoned money through accounts of fruit sellers, receiving goods and cash in return.

Opposing the bail plea, the prosecution submitted that two co-accused persons are yet to be arrested and there was an apprehension that Dongre might tamper with evidence if released.

Dongre’s counsel argued that he had been in judicial custody since April 2, 2025, and that the chargesheet had already been filed. He sought parity with co-accused who had been granted bail and relied on a 2012 Supreme Court judgment to contend that continued incarceration during trial was unwarranted.

Rejecting the argument of parity, the court said, “I may note that the role of the applicant cannot be equated to the role of other persons involved in the conspiracy”.

“Prima facie the IO has stated that the applicant is the prime accused as he is the beneficiary of the siphoned off amount, the offence is grave and serious in nature and mere filing of the chargesheet does not by itself dilute the seriousness of offence or entitle the applicant to grant of bail especially where the role attributed to the accused is substantial or prime,” said the court.

Thereby, the court dismissed Dongre’s bail application. PTI MDB RHL