Ex-IAS Officer Vinod Kumar, 4 Others Get 3-Yr RI In Odisha Rural Housing Loan Fraud Case

Bhubaneswar: A Special Vigilance court on Monday convicted former IAS officer Vinod Kumar and four others in the Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) loan scam and sentenced them to three years of rigorous imprisonment.

This is the seventh consecutive conviction of Vinod Kumar, former ORHDC Managing Director, in corruption cases.

The court of the Special Vigilance Judge, Bhubaneswar convicted the five under Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and section 468/120-B of IPC.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each on the convicts. Apart from Vinod Kumar, the other convicts are former company secretary Swasti Ranjan Mohapatra, former loan recovery assistant Umesh Chandra Swain, and Rashmi Pattanaik and Ratan Kumar Sahoo, both partners of M/s Home Lives Housing, Bhubaneswar.

In default of payment of fine, they will have to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for a period of 6 months.

As per Vigilance charges, the former ORHDC officers had committed criminal misconduct by entering into criminal conspiracy and showed undue official favour to Rashmi Pattanaik and Ratan Kumar Sahoo in the matter of sanction and disbursement of loan amounting to Rs 50 lakh without conducting proper documentation, pre & post sanction inspection and without obtaining adequate security.

Former DSP Gopabandhu Pati had investigated the case and  special public prosecutor Hemanta Kumar Swain conducted the case on behalf of the prosecution, a Vigilance release said.