Couple held for multi-crore loan fraud by pledging properties twice
Bhubaneswar: Economic offences wing (EOW) of the state crime branch on Wednesday arrested a city-based businessman and his wife on charges of defrauding a bank by securing over Rs 1 crore loan against properties that were earlier pledged to obtain nearly Rs 3.8 crore from another bank.
The accused couple were identified as Ashirbad Pattnaik (54) and Manogran Pattnaik (47). Ashirbad runs mining and electronics products enterprises in Bhubaneswar. EOW registered a fraud case against the couple on Jan 30, following a complaint by Sushant Nayak, who heads the financial crime prevention group of a private bank.
In Jan 2018, Ashirbad secured a Rs 3.79 crore loan from a nationalised bank for his company by pledging two flats and a duplex, registered under his and his wife’s names. While the initial loan remained unpaid, the couple obtained an additional Rs 1.05 crore loan from a private bank in Oct 2018, using the same properties as collateral, EOW sources said.
Ashirbad sold one of the mortgaged flats to a woman through an internal balance transfer of the private bank’s loan. “When Ashirbad failed to repay the initial loan amount, the bank initiated legal action and took possession of the duplex and one flat. The bank authorities were surprised to discover the unauthorised sale of the other flat to the woman,” an EOW officer said.
The woman then flagged the private bank as she was settling Ashirbad’s Rs 1.05 crore loan after purchasing his flat. The private bank subsequently uncovered the fraud and contacted EOW. “The private bank incurred losses of Rs 1.3 crore in outstanding loans until Jan 2025 due to the fraudulent activities by the accused using fake documents. The accused furnished forged property details with the private bank,” the EOW officer stated.
The investigating agency strongly suspects possible connivance of the private bank’s staff with Ashirbad in the loan fraud. EOW officers noted the bank’s failure to conduct proper field verification and examine property documents already pledged to another bank. “We are questioning some of the employees of the bank whose job was to verify documents and sanction the loan,” the officer said.
The accused couple were identified as Ashirbad Pattnaik (54) and Manogran Pattnaik (47). Ashirbad runs mining and electronics products enterprises in Bhubaneswar. EOW registered a fraud case against the couple on Jan 30, following a complaint by Sushant Nayak, who heads the financial crime prevention group of a private bank.
In Jan 2018, Ashirbad secured a Rs 3.79 crore loan from a nationalised bank for his company by pledging two flats and a duplex, registered under his and his wife’s names. While the initial loan remained unpaid, the couple obtained an additional Rs 1.05 crore loan from a private bank in Oct 2018, using the same properties as collateral, EOW sources said.
Ashirbad sold one of the mortgaged flats to a woman through an internal balance transfer of the private bank’s loan. “When Ashirbad failed to repay the initial loan amount, the bank initiated legal action and took possession of the duplex and one flat. The bank authorities were surprised to discover the unauthorised sale of the other flat to the woman,” an EOW officer said.
The woman then flagged the private bank as she was settling Ashirbad’s Rs 1.05 crore loan after purchasing his flat. The private bank subsequently uncovered the fraud and contacted EOW. “The private bank incurred losses of Rs 1.3 crore in outstanding loans until Jan 2025 due to the fraudulent activities by the accused using fake documents. The accused furnished forged property details with the private bank,” the EOW officer stated.
The investigating agency strongly suspects possible connivance of the private bank’s staff with Ashirbad in the loan fraud. EOW officers noted the bank’s failure to conduct proper field verification and examine property documents already pledged to another bank. “We are questioning some of the employees of the bank whose job was to verify documents and sanction the loan,” the officer said.
