Cinema and TV actress Padmaja Rao has been sentenced to three months of simple imprisonment and fined Rs 40.20 lakh by the Eighth JMFC Court in a cheque bounce case. The case was filed by Veerendra Shetty, owner of Veeru Talkies and a resident of Maryhill in Mangaluru, who alleged that Rao took a hand loan of Rs 40 lakh on June 17, 2020, and provided a cheque as security from her ICICI Bank account at the Banashankari branch. When the cheque was presented, it was dishonoured due to insufficient funds. Despite being served a notice to repay the amount by June 30, 2020, Rao failed to comply.
During the court hearing, Padmaja Rao denied taking any loan from Veerendra Shetty and claimed she did not issue the cheque in question. Her lawyer argued that Shetty had falsely accused her of cheating him out of Rs 52.70 lakh in a separate case filed at the J P Nagar police station. The defense further claimed that the cheque was stolen from Rao’s house and that her signature was forged. However, the defense failed to provide sufficient evidence to support these claims.
Justice Fawaz P A of the Eighth JMFC Court ordered Padmaja Rao to pay a fine of Rs 40.20 lakh, of which Rs 40.17 lakh is to be given to the complainant, and Rs 3,000 to the court.
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