Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Crime Branch has arrested two persons, including a senior manager of Punjab National Bank (PNB), in a loan fraud case.
The accused have been identified as PNB Senior Manager-cum-Assessment OfficerSrikanta Prasad Prusty and proprietor of M/s K.P. Solutions Kali Prasad Mishra.
According to EOW, Mishra, who deals with wholesaling and retail trading of tiles, sanitary items and electronic goods, had availed Cash Credit (CC) Loan amounting to Rs 2.5 crore in an alleged nexus with the bank officer. He had mortgaged the property of three guarantors against the loan. However, they denied having signed the documents and kept the properties at Madhu Patna, Cuttack, as a mortgage for the loan during an inquiry.
The investigation further revealed that the accused loanee used fake KYC documents, including electricity bills and Voter Identity cards, of the three guarantors. Interestingly, one of the guarantors had expired in 2014 more than three years before the loan was sanctioned in 2017.
“Prusty, the then Senior Manager, of PNB Bapuji Nagar branch in criminal conspiracy with the loanee had recommended for sanction of the huge CC loan by accepting the forged documents mentioning to have verified the identity of guarantors and also entertaining the impersonators for the guarantors to sign the mortgaged deeds knowing very well that they are not the owner of the property and thereby caused huge loss to the bank/government exchequer,” the EOW press note said.
The loan is now outstanding to the tune of Rs 267.33 lakh.
The accused have been booked under Sections 406, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120(B) of the IPC on the basis of a complaint lodged by PNB Circle Head, Bhubaneswar, Paresh Kumar Das and are being to the SDJM court.
Further investigation is on, it added.
