A Mysuru court has sentenced a former State Bank of India branch manager to one year of rigorous imprisonment for fraudulently siphoning ₹61.57 lakh from a deceased customer’s account and an internal bank account.
The First Additional Senior Civil Judge and Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Mysuru pronounced the verdict against Anirudh Vasantrao Kulkarni, who previously served as chief manager of SBI’s Chamundipuram branch.
In addition to the jail sentence, the magistrate ordered Kulkarni to pay a fine of ₹50,000 and another ₹50,000 as restitution to the bank towards litigation costs and associated financial damages.
How Was ₹61.57 Lakh Diverted?
According to court filings submitted by police investigators, Kulkarni used his supervisory position at the branch between May 13, 2009, and December 23, 2011, to make unauthorised withdrawals.
The prosecution established that ₹40.53 lakh was removed from an account belonging to Krishna Iyer, a customer who had died on April 7, 2005, roughly four years before the transactions began.
Investigators also found that ₹21.04 lakh was extracted from an internal administrative account belonging to the bank. The diverted funds, totalling ₹61.57 lakh, were routed directly into accounts held by Kulkarni and his son, Nandan Kulkarni.
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How Was the Fraud Discovered?
The irregularities first surfaced in December 2011 after SBI’s vigilance division received an anonymous complaint alleging illicit transactions at the Chamundipuram office.
The complaint led to an internal investigation headed by the bank’s state vigilance chief.
The fraud was further corroborated when Krishna Iyer’s legal successors approached the branch to claim the remaining ₹8.40 lakh in the account, backed by a directive issued by a Chennai court. When the family attempted the withdrawal, they discovered that the money had already been siphoned off.
What Happened After the Investigation?
Following the internal findings, law enforcement registered a cheating case against Kulkarni in 2012. The former manager was taken into custody and subsequently secured release on bail.
During the proceedings, his defence sought leniency, citing his age of 65 years, his health, his dismissal from bank service and his role as the primary caretaker of his wife and 90-year-old mother.
The defence also submitted that Kulkarni had maintained a clean prior record, cooperated by attending every court session and voluntarily reimbursed ₹62 lakh to the bank after the discrepancies were uncovered.
Why Did Repayment Not Prevent Conviction?
The magistrate rejected the argument that reimbursing the money should reduce Kulkarni’s culpability.
The court ruled that returning misappropriated funds after a crime has been discovered does not absolve a person of criminal responsibility.
Despite the repayment cited by the defence, the court sentenced the former SBI manager to one year of rigorous imprisonment.
The420 Insight
The case shows that returning diverted money after a banking fraud is uncovered does not by itself erase criminal liability. It also highlights how internal vigilance and account claims by legal heirs can expose unauthorised transactions even years after the money was diverted.
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