Five held for bank fraud in Odisha

Odisha Channel Bureau Paradip, Nov 18: Economic Offence Wing of the Crime Branch of Odisha police Tuesday took into custody five persons in connection with a Rs.2.96 crore fraud perpetrated in a rural bank two years ago.The fraud was carried out for sanction and disbursal of loans to 148 borrowers during 2011-12.As many as 148 loans had been sanctioned and disbursed to as many borrowers in Bilahat branch of Cuttack Gramya Bank in Jagatsinghpur district.The loan disbursal and sanction process had been fraudulently as the loanees either submitted forged credentials or fake land records of rights.“The bankers had entered into criminal conspiracy with the ineligible borrowers and had perpetrated the fraud to the tune of Rs 2.96 crore,” said Additional Superintendent of Police, Economic Offence Wing of State crime branch police, Rajendra Pattnaik. Interestingly, five borrowers arrested today had posed themselves as teachers of government-run schools and had submitted fake credentials and records to avail of the loans.The bankers acting hand in glove with the accused persons had deliberately ignored the fake credentials, Pattnaik said.The arrested persons – Santosh Biswal, Dillip Hota, Narahari Jena, Prakash Rath, Bibekanand Biswal – booked under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 409 (criminal breach of trust) were remanded to judicial custody.Earlier, the crime branch economic wing sleuths had uncovered the fraud and had arrested five persons including Prakash Biswal, the then manager of the bank.