Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police arrested a man for allegedly swindling about Rs 9.6 crore from the bank account of District Mineral Foundation Trust of Zilla Parishad, Mayurbhanj maintained with Bank of India, Baripada Branch through cheque cloning.
According to an official press release, the accused identified as Pomesh Tembhare alias Pomesh Temtre of Bangalitola, under Kirnapur police limits of Balaghat district in Madhya Pradesh was arrested on Friday from a village in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh.
The accused booked under sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120-B of IPC after arrest was produced before the Court of CJM, Balaghat and was brought to Bhubaneswar on the strength of transit remand.
The accused will be produced before the Court of PO, Designated Court under OPID Act, Balasore today.
The arrest was made based on a case registered at Bhanjapur Police Station of Mayurbhanj district on April 19. The case which was later taken over by the EOW was initially registered at Bhanjapur Police Station on the written allegation of Sujata Kanungo, Chief Manager, Bank of India, Baripada that illegal transactions of Rs.9,56,76,600 had been made from the account of District Mineral Foundation Trust of Zilla Parishad, Mayurbhanj maintained with Bank of India, Baripda Branch by producing four cheques on April 10 and 18.
During the investigation, it was found that the savings account of Zilla Parishad, Mayurbhanj is being maintained with Bank of India, Baripada Branch in the name of District Mineral Foundation Trust. The fraudsters by producing forged/clone cheques managed to transfer Rs.9,56,76,600 in total to two different accounts in the name of PT Constructions & Supplier maintained with Bank of Maharashtra and S K Enterprises maintained with Punjab & Sindh Bank.
During the investigation, the above-mentioned amounts were found further diverted/transferred to many other accounts from the accounts of PT Constructions & Supplier and S K Enterprises. Out of the illegally transferred amount, Rs 5,04,06,900 was blocked and Rs 13,56,948 lying in 33 accounts have been frozen.
The accused Pomesh Tembhare was found to be the owner/ signatory authority of PT Constructions & Suppliers to which more than Rs 2.68 Crore was illegally transferred. Out of this amount, the accused being the signatory authority has transferred/diverted the amount to many other accounts apart from self-withdrawals.
After the incident, he hid himself keeping his mobile phone switched off in a Naxal-infested village. EOW team with the help of local police and CAPF arrested the accused. Pomesh Tembhare’s firm PT Constructions & Suppliers is functioning in Raipur. However, it is a sham firm and was created only for fraudulent activities.
The accused is a member of a larger gang having a complex network in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. After the arrest, EOW has got important clues about the entire gang. The gang has been involved in similar scams for at least 4 years. The gang has been doing it in a well-planned and meticulous manner from cheque cloning to multi-layering of money transfers, creation and operations of multiple mule bank accounts, withdrawal of money, information network, local touts etc.
During the investigation, many incriminating clues have been arrived at which are under investigation to reach out to the other fraudsters, including the gang’s mastermind. Further investigation in the matter is underway.
