Angul: A former bank manager was arrested for allegedly swindling nearly Rs 60 lakh from the account of the Angul district collector, Manoj Kumar Mohanty.
Police said the accused, Shaktivedant Das, committed the fraud in 2017-18. A resident of Nageswar Tangi in Bhubaneswar, Das had forged the collector’s signature on eight cheques and withdrawn Rs 59,41,481 from the account with a private bank in Angul.
After the crime, Das left his job in Angul and joined a private bank in Bhubaneswar.
The account was opened in 2013 in the collector’s name and the amount was deposited for various developmental projects such as construction of National Highways and State Highways in the district.
After getting to know about the fraud, the collector lodged an FIR at Angul Police station. Following this, Das was arrested on Saturday.
During interrogation, Das admitted to the fraud and said that he had a request for a new checkbook on behalf of the collector. He then forged the signature and collected money on eight separate occasions.
Police are trying to ascertain if any other person from the bank or the Collectorate office was involved in the fraud.
Meanwhile, the fraudulently withdrawn amount was credited to the bank account on Saturday, the collector informed.
“No cheque book was issued to us and the money was fraudulently withdrawn in cash through forged signature of ex-Collector and cheques. After a complaint was lodged, the bank refunded the entire money yesterday,” said the collector.
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