Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police on Saturday arrested former director of a real estate company in cheating case involving more than Rs 15 crore.
The arrested accused, identified as Pramod Kumar Sahoo (49), ex- director of real estate firm M/s Mishra Creations Pvt Ltd, was arrested from Bhubaneswar.
EOW said the case was registered on the basis of a complaint by a man from Bhubaneswar’s Rasulgarh alleging that he and other investors were cheated in the name of giving flats in the project ‘UTOPIA’ at Chandaka of M/s Mishra Creations Pvt Ltd. He had booked a flat in the said project during the year 2016 and advanced an amount of Rs 16 lakhs to the accused MD Jyoti Ranjan Mishra. He incurred a bank loan to give the advance and also entered into a tripartite agreement with the builder and the bank. The flat was to be handed over within 30 months, but till date no flat was given to him by the real estate company nor he was refunded the invested amount, it was alleged.
Investigation revealed that accused Pramod Kumar Sahoo played an active role in promoting the “UTOPIA” housing project at Anlapatna, Chandaka, Bhubaneswar. He, along with co-accused Jyoti Ranjan Mishra, Santosh Kumar Rath and others, approached prospective purchasers, showed them the project, facilitated flat bookings and assisted in housing-loan formalities. Statements of several purchasers corroborated his involvement in procuring customers and facilitating payments towards the project.
Investigation further revealed that Rs 16,51,400/- was credited to his personal SBI account from the company account. The evidence establishes his active involvement and financial linkage with the fraudulent transactions relating to the UTOPIA project.
During investigation, so many incriminating documents have been seized from the arrested accused. Earlier, MD and Addl. Director of the firm were arrested and forwarded to OPID Court. Investigation of the case is continuing.