Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing, Bhubaneswar, arrested main accused Saroj Kanta Mohapatra, former branch manager of IDBI Bank, Dandamukundapur Branch in Odisha’s Pipili, and accomplice/conspirator Angel Mishra, wife of Debasish Mishra, a resident of Khurda, on Saturday from Cuttack and on Sunday from Puri respectively, in EOW PS Case No. 03 under Sections 409/420/467/468/471/120-B IPC.
The arrested accused persons were produced before the Court of PO, Designated Court under the OPID Act, Cuttack, on Sunday.
The case was registered on the allegation of Sandeep Pattnaik, General Manager, IDBI Bank, Bhubaneswar that Sarojkanta Mohapatra, Branch Head (now Manager), and Tanmay Kumar Maharana, former Asset Officer (now Asset Manager), IDBI Bank, Dandamukundapur branch, had illegally sanctioned/disbursed 35 fictitious loans (majorly MUDRA loans) amounting to Rs 3.70 crore mostly in favour of their close relative/acquaintances.
During the investigation, it was found that the government cash of Rs 3.7 crore was deposited in two bank accounts of BDO, Pipili, maintained with IDBI Bank, Dandamukundapur Branch, Pipili. During 2018, BDO, Pipili, had requested the bank for a Fexi Fixed Deposit (FFD) of the above amount, and as per the advice of the then-accused Branch Manager, the then BDO, Pipili, had issued seven “Yourself” cheques for the purpose.
It was also falsely intimated by the bank that the amount had been deposited in the Flexi Account, giving the details of the interest accrued thereupon.
During the year 2022, when the BDO, Pipili Block sought the details of the Flexi Account and the statements of the account, the bank intimated that no such FFD has ever been booked/created from the accounts of BDO, Pipili.
When the matter was pursued with the bank, an internal investigation was conducted by the bank, in which it surfaced that Rs 3.7 crore of Pipili Block Office deposited with the bank had been misappropriated by the then bank officials who had diverted the amount for their wrongful gain.
The investigation revealed that Sarojkanta Mohapatra and Tanmay Kumar Maharana, the respective former Branch Manager and former Asset Officer of IDBI Bank, Dandamukundapur Branch, had fraudulently created 35 fictitious MUDRA loans amounting to Rs 10 lakh each in the name of their close relatives /acquaintances, without the knowledge of the loanees. The disbursement of the loans was made to 35 loanees out of the funds of the bank covered under the general ledger account. The loan amounts were found to have been transferred/diverted invariably to one particular account.
Further, to avoid an audit, the above-noted two bank officers closed the MUDRA loans and created fraudulently by transferring the cash from the accounts of BDO, Pipili. They could manage it by giving the false impression to the BDO that the amount has been deposited in the Flexi Account.
The arrested accused persons Saroj Mohapatra, former Branch Head of IDBI Bank, Dandamukundapur branch, Sri Tanmay Moharana, former Asset Officer of the Branch (arrested and forwarded in the case earlier) and Angel Mishra entered into a criminal conspiracy and under that, Saroj Mohapatra and Tanmay Moharana fraudulently created 35 false MUDRA loan accounts in the name of different persons majorly in the name of their relatives and misappropriated the entire loan amount of Rs 3.7 crore by diverting the same directly/indirectly to the Bank account of Angel Mishra maintained with SBI.
The loanees have never applied for the loans nor did they avail of the loan amount. Subsequently, to escape the audit, they closed the MUDRA Loans by transferring the amount from two accounts of BDO Pipili maintained with the Branch. For this purpose, the accused bank officials tampered with the mandate of BDO, Pipili, and used the forged documents as genuine.
The conspirator/ accomplice Angel Mishra is the classmate of the accused BM Saroj Mohapatra and shares a friendly relationship with him.
