Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the state crime branch Saturday reportedly arrested two persons, who in connivance with a senior official of the State Bank of India (SBI), misappropriated Rs 8 crore through illegal disbursements of 85 fake loans. The accused will be forwarded to the court Sunday, said EOW sources. The accused persons were arrested in connection with a case (14/23) registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by the Regional Manager, SBI, RBO, Phulbani April 3, 2023.
The EOW had earlier arrested the prime accused, Asutosh Acharya, the Dy. Manager-cum-Field Officer of SBI’s Phulbani Branch from Cuttack April 5, 2023. Acharya during the period from September 2021 to September 2022 disbursed 59 Xpress Credit Loans worth Rs 6, 77, 30,000, meant exclusively for the salaried persons, to the nonsalaried persons. Similarly, as many as 26 pension loans to the tune of Rs 99, 82,795 meant for the pensioners were illegally processed and recommended by the accused in favour of the non-pensioners including his father, mother, and father-in-law (dead). The accused banker later transferred crores of rupees to the accounts of his relatives and others including Samaresh Ranjan Das and Srikant Kumar Biswal.
Sources further revealed that EOW has reportedly succeeded in arresting the above accused along with an official of a City-based Multipurpose Cooperative society. As per the complaint, Acharya had allegedly transferred Rs 1.40 crore and Rs 53.92 lakh to the account of both the accused persons. “The involvement of Samaresh Ranjan Das, Srikant Kumar Biswal, and one Sarojini Das in fraud is quietly evident and apparent from the aforementioned facts as the amounts so defrauded have been continuously transferred to their accounts by Acharya,” the complainant had earlier alleged in his complaint.
