Indian-origin banker gets 13 years in jail for forgery, cheating in Singapore
Singapore: An Indian-origin private banker was sentenced to 13 years jail on Thursday in Singapore, after he pleaded guilty to 20 forgery and cheating charges, and another 30 charges under the Computer Misuse Act for USD 10 million.
Another 503 similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing of Kale Jagdish Purushottam, who had siphoned USD 10 million from accounts of Barclays Bank clients between June 2010 and January 2013, reported The Straits Times.
In an attempt to pay back his former clients, Kale, 43, forged signatures to siphon off USD 10 million from his present clients.
He then made more unauthorised transactions to recover and replace the sum but ended up with extra losses of at least US$10 million instead.
Prior to joining the British bank in February 2010, Kale worked for UBS Singapore where he was the relationship manager for a company called Red Oak, which alleged that Kale had engaged in unauthorised foreign exchange transactions using the money in its account.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jean Ting said Kale agreed to pay Red Oak USD 14 million to avoid a legal case. However, Kale paid the firm with money from his Barclays clients' bank accounts.
Ting told the court that Kale passed off the forged documents by copying and pasting the genuine signatures of authorised signatories into his own computer file.
To cover up the shortfall in the bank accounts of his three clients, he forged more documents to move money between his other client accounts.
He made about 81 unauthorised fund transfers in this manner.
Kale also forged documents to create accounts in his clients' names that would allow him to take up loans. These loan sums were then transferred to Red Oak or used to cover up the other unauthorised fund transfers, said the deputy public prosecutor.
He raised 162 loans in the accounts maintained by six of his clients, according to the Singapore daily's report.
To cover up the loss of his clients', Kale tried to make money through unauthorised stock and foreign exchange transactions using his clients' accounts, she added.
"However, the unauthorised trades and other transactions caused further net losses of at least USD 10 million to Barclays," said DPP Ng.
On February 1, 2013, the Commercial Affairs Department received information that Kale might have forged his clients' signatures. He was also sacked in the same month.
Defence Counsel Anand Nalachandran told the court that Kale had not made the transfers or trades for personal financial benefit, but to satisfy what he thought was an obligation.
"Having just moved to Barclays, he was faced with allegations (from Red Oak), and instead of heeding advice, he rather rashly acted and then did these things to satisfy his obligation," said Anand.
However, District Judge Ong Hian Sun pointed out that there was a "grave breach of trust" on Kale's end.
According to court documents, Barclays managed to recover US 4 million after a settlement with Red Oak and Kale made restitution of USD 400,000 to the bank.
For each count of forgery for the purpose of cheating, Kale could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
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Assam polls: Cong announces first list of 42 candidates, Gaurav to contest from Jorhat
Guwahati (PTI): The opposition Congress on Tuesday took the lead in announcing its first list of 42 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Assam, with it comprising both sitting MLAs and former ministers, and also new faces, including sons of three prominent politicians.
The party's chief ministerial candidate and state president Gaurav Gogoi will contest from the prestigious Jorhat assembly constituency, currently held by BJP's Hitendra Nath Goswami.
The Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha will make his first electoral foray for the assembly.
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Gogoi is currently the party MP from the Jorhat parliamentary constituency and previously represented Kaliabor twice before it was reconstituted during the delimitation exercise in the state.
The leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Debabrata Saikia, will contest from the family stronghold of Nazira, which he has represented since 2016. His father, former chief minister Hiteswar Saikia, and his mother, Hemoprava Saikia, previously represented the constituency.
Three sitting MLAs -- Nandita Das from Hajo-Sualkuchi, Diganta Barman from Barkhetry and Nurul Huda from Rupohihat -- have also been included in the list.
Das, a two-time MLA, had earlier contested from Boko but following the delimitation exercise in the state, she has been shifted to Hajo-Sualkuchi while Barman and Huda will contest from the same seats they represented in the current assembly.
Former minister and state Congress president Ripun Bora will contest from Barchalla while another former minister, Ajit Singh, will contest from Udharbond constituency in Barak Valley.
Former minister and Deputy Speaker Pranati Phukan, a four-time MLA till 2016, will contest from Naharkatia in Upper Assam.
Tanzil Hussain, son of Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain, will contest from Samaguri where he had lost to BJP's Diplu Ranjan Sarmah in the 2024 by-elections which was necessitated following the election of the senior Hussain to Lok Sabha.
Prateek Bordoloi, son of Nagaon MP Prodyut Bordoloi, will contest the Margherita seat which was represented by his father thrice since 2001.
Former five-time MP and prominent tea tribe leader Paban Singh Ghatowar's son Pranjal Ghatowar will contest from the Chabua-Lahowal seat.
Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur, who had unsuccessfully contested the last parliamentary polls from Gauhati, has been given the ticket for the prestigious Dispur constituency.
Former BJP MLA Ashok Sarma, who was denied ticket by the ruling party in 2021 and went on to join the Congress in 2024, will contest from his previous Nalbari seat.
Another former BJP MLA and Deputy Speaker Aminul Haque Laskar, who joined the Congress in 2024, will contest from Sonai constituency in Barak Valley.
Former AGP MLA Satyabrat Kalita, who joined the Congress in September 2025, will contest from Kamalpur seat.
Other prominent faces in the list include former Congress MLAs Durga Bhumij from Doomdooma, Binanda Kumar Saikia from Sipahjhar and Bubul Das from Jagiroad (SC) constituency.
The Congress is a leading part of the unified opposition alliance, 'Asom Sonmilito Morcha', formed to challenge the ruling BJP, and has entered into seat-sharing arrangements with the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and the Left, but is yet to finalise it with Raijor Dal.
Presently, the ruling BJP's strength in the 126-member assembly is 64, while its allies AGP has nine MLAs, UPPL has seven and BPF has three members.
In the opposition camp, the Congress has 26 MLAs, AIUDF has 15 members and CPI(M) has one MLA. There is an Independent legislator as well.
