THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former junior accountant of a co-operative bank has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for defalcation. Shahjahan who was a junior accountant at Kollam District Co-operative Bank was punished by Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court. He was fined Rs 5, 90, 000 and prison sentence of 28 years (4 years each for 7 cases).

During the 1997-98 fiscal year, Shahjahan created fake accounts of customers that would later transfer funds over to his own account thereby committing defalcation amounting to Rs. 6,11,625.