Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the state Crime Branch Thursday arrested a person for allegedly duping various nationalised banks of around Rs 1.09 crore on the pretext of vehicle loans.
The arrested has been identified as Maitreya Mishra, a resident of Sailoranipada under Govindpur police limits in Cuttack. Mishra was staying at Kharakhia Baidyanath Lane near Sasan Padia under Lingaraj police station here.
According to sources, Ajaya Kumar Khuntia, the branch manager of Central Bank of India’s Palasapalli branch had lodged a complaint March 8, 2018 alleging that Mishra had opened many fake accounts at various branches of different public sector banks including Central Bank of India. The accounts were opened in the names of various automobile dealers in the city to misappropriate money under vehicle loans issued against the dealers’ names, he stated.
The EOW sleuths found that Mishra, in connivance with several other accused, had opened fake bank accounts in the name of Shree Bharat Motors, City Motors, Aditya Motors, Utkal Automobiles, Rajpath ATM at different branches of Syndicate Bank, Odisha Gramya Bank, Axis Bank, UCO Bank and Central Bank of India between 2015 and 2018.
Subsequently, the banks also issued bank drafts of various amounts under vehicle loans applied by the accused persons who helped Mishra. He was the mastermind behind the plan to cheat the banks. There are 24 vehicles loans sanctioned including two applied by Mishra himself.
The drafts issued in the name of automobile dealers were deposited in the fake accounts opened by Mishra. However, loan amounts cumulatively worth Rs 109, 62,352 were misappropriated by the accused persons without purchasing a single vehicle.
EOW registered a case (10/18) and produced Mishra before the court that sent him to judicial custody after rejecting his bail application.
