Mohali, June 6 -- A special CBI court has sentenced industrialist Samir Dua, a partner in a firm M/s GD Ispat Udyog, Mandi Gobindgarh, to three years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs.15,000 in a multi-crore bank fraud case. According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, the cheating and diversion of funds caused a loss of more than Rs.4 crore to the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB). The court acquitted the empanelled valuer, Kulwant Singh Rai, for lack of evidence. The case was registered by the CBI's Economic Offences branch, New Delhi, in February 2018, following a complaint filed by the bank's regional office in Ludhiana regarding credit facilities sanctioned to the firm engaged in manufacturing electric resistance welded (ERW) and conduit pipes. The court convicted Samir Dua under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), holding that he had secured the cash credit limit from IOB's Khanna branch using inflated financial figures and misleading documents. According to the prosecution, Samir Dua and his father, Dalip Kumar Dua, became partners in the firm in 2013 after the original promoters exited. Soon after taking over, they approached IOB's Khanna branch and secured a cash credit facility of Rs.4 crore. Investigators submitted that Samir Dua produced misleading financial documents and concealed liabilities while seeking the loan, and the firm diverted funds, siphoned loan proceeds through related accounts, submitted inflated financial statements and used bank money for purposes other than those for which it had been sanctioned. Proceedings against the principal accused, Dalip Kumar Dua, were abated in July 2021 following his death during the trial. The court, however, acquitted co-accused Kulwant Singh Rai, an empanelled property valuer, holding that the prosecution failed to prove any criminal conspiracy between him and the firm's partners. The judgment noted that no bank official had alleged wrongdoing against Rai and that investigators could not establish any "meeting of minds" between him and the accused partners....