Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the state Crime Branch (CB) Tuesday arrested a 43-year-old man in connection with Rs 2.02-crore bank fraud case of 2018.
Bijay Kumar Pradhan, a resident of Bagha Ragodi under Konark police limits in Puri, has been taken into custody on charges of defrauding Odisha Gramya Bank’s Pipli branch by availing loans amounting crores of rupees from the rural bank on the basis of fabricated documents last year.
About the case details, the EOW sources said that Bijay, along with a few others, had availed loans to the tune of Rs 2.02 crore for procuring a few heavy vehicles and a sport utility vehicle (SUV) for which they furnished forged papers. Later, the accused in connivance with the bank’s branch manager (BM) — Prasanna Kumar Jena—misappropriated the amount without purchasing the said vehicles.
“Bijay, along with his brother Bikram, sister-in-law Rajalaxmi and her brother Madan Mohan, hatched a conspiracy with the bank BM and availed the loans by submitting forged documents. While Bikram took two loans — Rs 41.70 lakh and Rs 36 lakh – for purchasing vehicles, Rajalaxmi availed a loan of Rs 9 lakh. Madan Mohan as well as Bijay took Rs 40 lakh each as loans to purchase commercial vehicles. They submitted forged insurance and RC papers even without purchasing vehicles,” the sources said, adding that the loans amounted to Rs 2,02,70,000.
The fraud, however, came to the fore after the rural bank’s regional manager—Debadutta Nanda— approached the investigating agency alleging the misappropriation. “The agency registered a case (23/18) under Sections 420, 406, 467, 468, 471 and 120B of the IPC and in due course arrested Prasanna, Bikram, Rajalaxmi and Madan Mohan November 11, 2018,” the official said.
