Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Odisha, has arrested a fraudster in Rs 9.6 crore Bank of India cheque cloning case.
The accused, identified as Pomesh Tembhare and apprehended from Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh on April 26, will be produced in a court in Balasore on Monday, an EOW release said.
The case pertains to a complaint lodged by Bank of India, Baripada, chief manager Sujata Kanungo about illegal transactions of Rs.9,56,76,600 made from the account of District Mineral Foundation Trust of Zilla Parishad, Mayurbhanj, maintained with bank by producing four cheques on April 10 and April 18 this year.
The investigation revealed that fraudsters had managed to transfer the amount to two different accounts in the name of PT Constructions & Supplier maintained with Bank of Maharashtra and S K Enterprises maintained with Punjab & Sindh Bank by producing forged/cloned cheques. “The cash was further diverted/transferred to many other accounts from the accounts of PT Constructions & Supplier and S K Enterprises. Of the illegally transferred amount, Rs.5,04,06,900 was blocked and Rs.13,56,948 lying in 33 accounts was freezed,” the release said.
The arrested was found to be the owner/signatory authority of PT Constructions & Suppliers to which more than Rs 2.68 crore was illegally transferred. He had transferred/diverted the amount to many other accounts apart from self-withdrawals. “He had switched off his phone and had been hiding in a Maoist-infested village.”
The EOW team arrested him with the help of local police and CAPF. “His Firm PT Constructions & Suppliers is based out of Raipur. However, it is a sham firm and was created only for committing fraud. The accused is a member of a larger gang having complex network in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. “They have been committing such frauds for at least 4 years through well-planned and meticulous methods including cheque cloning, multi-layering money transfers, creation and operations of multiple mule bank accounts, withdrawal of money, information network, and local touts.”
During investigation, many incriminating clues were found which can help the EOW trace the other members of the gang, including the mastermind, the release added.
