Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Crime Branch has arrested former branch manager of IDBI Dandamukundapur branch, Pipili, Saroj Kanta Mohapatra, and his accomplice, Angel Mishra, in connection with a Rs.3.70 crore fraud case.
While Mohapatra, the main accused in the case, was nabbed from Cuttack on March 9, Mishra was taken into custody from Puri on March 10. This comes 3 days after the arrest of Assistant Manager of IDBI Dandamukundapur Branch Tanmay Kumar Maharana.
According to an EOW release, the case was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by General Manager of IDBI Bank, Bhubaneswar, Sandeep Pattnaik against Mohapatra and Maharana, alleging that they had illegally sanctioned 35 loans (majorly MUDRA loans) of Rs 10 lakh each in the name of their close relatives/acquaintances, without their knowledge.
The investigation revealed that Rs 3.7 crore was deposited in two bank accounts of BDO, Pipili, maintained with IDBI Dandamukundapur Branch. The Pipili BDO in 2018 had requested the bank for Fexli Fixed Deposit (FFD) of the above amount, and had issued “Yourself” cheques for the purpose on the advice of Mohapatra.
When the BDO sought details of the deposit and the statements of the account in 2022, he was intimated by the bank that no such FFD was ever booked/created from his accounts. Following which, an internal investigation was conducted by the bank, which found that the Rs 3.7 crore of Pipili Block Office had been misappropriated by the then bank officials.
“The disbursement of the loans was made to 35 loanees out of the funds of bank covered under General Ledger Account. The loan amounts were found to have transferred/diverted invariably to one particular account. To avoid audit, the accused closed the MUDRA loans created fraudulently by transferring the cash from the accounts of BDO, Pipili. They could manage it by giving the false impression to the BDO that the amount has been deposited in the Flexi account,” the release said.
It further said that Mishra is the classmate of Mohapatra. She is also an accused in a cheating case lodged at Khandagiri, Bhubaneswar. Mohapatra was also allegedly involved in an Rs 18 crore bank fraud using clone cheques.
“Bank officials have also been suspended from their service due to such fraudulent conduct. Further investigation is underway,” it added.
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