Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police has arrested Mihir Kumar Paikaray in connection with a Rs 1.42 crore bank loan fraud involving forged land documents submitted to ICICI Bank.
Paikaray was apprehended from Bhubaneswar on July 29. He has been booked under IPC sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120B and is scheduled to be produced before the designated court under the OPID Act in Cuttack on July 30.
According to the complaint filed by Sushant Nayak, Regional Head of the Financial Crime Prevention Group at ICICI Bank Ltd, Paikaray allegedly availed a loan of Rs 1.42 crore from the bank’s Main Branch in Bhubaneswar by mortgaging fake and fabricated land documents. The bank sanctioned and disbursed the amount based on these submissions. He later defaulted on EMIs, turning the account into a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) with an outstanding balance of approximately Rs 1.22 crore, causing wrongful loss to the bank.
Investigation revealed that Paikaray had previously obtained a Rs 30 lakh loan from Bank of Baroda using the original sale deed of the same property. Due to non-repayment, Bank of Baroda auctioned the property under the SARFAESI Act. Records from the Sub-Registrar Office, Bhubaneswar, confirmed that the sale deed submitted to ICICI Bank was forged, the stamp paper numbers and signatures/thumb impressions did not match the certified copy of the Registered Sale Deed (RSD).
Paikaray also attempted to secure a Rs 1.50 crore loan from Suryodaya Small Finance Bank by submitting manipulated bank statements. The bank detected the fraud and declined the application, reporting it as such.
During the probe, EOW officials seized incriminating documents, including the loan application, forged sale deed, internal bank investigation reports, and relevant guidelines. Further investigation is under to identity any possible accomplices.
