Mangaluru
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 for a cheque bounce case.
Padmaja Rao had taken a hand loan of Rs 40 lakh from Veerendra Shetty, the owner of Veeru Talkies, and issued a cheque from her ICICI Bank account in Banashankari as security on June 17, 2020. The cheque was dishonoured due to insufficient funds when presented to the bank. Despite receiving a notice to repay the amount by June 30, 2020, Rao failed to do so.
In court, Padmaja Rao denied taking any loan from Shetty or issuing him a cheque. Her lawyer claimed that the cheque had been stolen and her signature forged, and argued that Shetty had previously accused her of cheating in a separate case. However, the defence did not provide evidence to support these claims.
Judge PA Fawaz ruled that Rao must pay a fine of Rs 40.20 lakh, with Rs 40.17 lakh to be paid to the complainant and Rs 3,000 to the court.
