Echoes of a 1997 financial scandal reverberated in a Jaipur court as Alok Agarwal was handed a seven-year prison sentence and Rs 5 lakh fine by ACJM (SPE Cases) on February 26, 2026. The CBI’s dogged pursuit in this Vijaya Bank fraud, causing Rs 5 crore damage, exemplifies how persistence cracks even the toughest cases.
The scam surfaced via CBI intel on November 21, 1997, implicating bank insiders S.R. Lalwani and M.R. Shetty alongside directors S.S. Sharma and S.M. Agarwal. Their modus operandi? A conspiracy of sham company deals, where loans flowed for imaginary goods, funneled through proxies and cashed out by staff.
Precisely Rs 4,99,71,944 vanished into private pockets. Post-probe, charge sheets targeted S.M. and Arun Agarwal in 2001, looping in Alok by 2002. The trial’s marathon run ended S.M.’s chapter with his 2016 demise and freed Arun sans proof, but nailed Alok with compelling CBI evidence.
Beyond punishment, this verdict spotlights systemic safeguards against fraud. It honors the agency’s role in safeguarding public money, urging banks to tighten oversight. As India battles economic crimes, such triumphs fortify the fight, ensuring perpetrators reckon with consequences regardless of time passed.