Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance on Thursday achieved a major breakthrough in a high-profile pension fraud case, involving the alleged misappropriation of Rs 5.56 crore in government funds, with the arrest of the main accused, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, a retired headmaster, along with his wife Gitarani Mohanty.
Pradip Kumar Mohanty, who served as a headmaster and was later re-engaged at the Block Education Officer (BEO) office in Korei, Jajpur district after his retirement on August 31, 2019, is the prime suspect in the scam.
The fraud spanned from November 2018 to September 2024 and exploited the School and Mass Education Department’s online Human Resource Management System (HRMS). Mohanty allegedly gained unauthorised access to the system, targeted the IDs of 13 retired teachers of Korei BEO office, falsifying records to show them as ‘active’ in service. He then prepared and processed duplicate monthly pension bills in their names through forgery, diverting the funds to personal bank accounts held by himself, his wife, his son Matruprasad Mohanty, and other associates, primarily across various branches of the State Bank of India (SBI).
The genuine pensioners continued to receive their legitimate dues uninterrupted, while the fraudulent payments went unnoticed for nearly six years, raising questions about oversight in the treasury and HRMS processes.
“We are at a complete loss as to how double bills were cleared and went unnoticed for six years. The fake bills carried the names of the 13 teachers, but the account numbers belonged to Pradip and his son and this continued for six years,” a senior vigilance official said.
The case came to light following intelligence inputs to the Vigilance Directorate, prompting an investigation that began around two months ago.
On March 18, Matruprasad Mohanty (35), serving as branch head of Jana Small Finance Bank in Bhadrak, was arrested for his alleged collusion in the scheme. The misappropriated Rs 5,56,11,495 were systematically laundered through family-linked accounts.
Following the son’s arrest, Pradip Mohanty and his wife Gitarani went absconding, frequently changing locations between Odisha and West Bengal. They were last suspected to be hiding in Kolkata, leading a Vigilance team to conduct raids at potential hideouts there. Sensing trouble, the couple fled Kolkata on the night of March 18 and checked into a hotel at Charampa in Bhadrak district.
Early this morning, a Vigilance team nabbed them from the hotel. Both Pradip Kumar Mohanty and Gitarani Mohanty are currently being interrogated for further details, including the full money trail and any additional accomplices, an official release said.
