Five persons arrested for Rs 3.5cr fraud | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: Economic offences wing (EOW) of crime branch in Bhubaneswar arrested five persons on Wednesday, including a homeguard and his wife, for allegedly orchestrating a loan fraud of Rs 3.5 crore using fraudulent property documents. The arrested persons are homeguard Niranjan Satpathy, his wife Rinarani Satpathy, along with their accomplices Dhananjay Prusty, Nirapada Karmakar and Surendra Kumar Beura.
The EOW revealed that Prusty and Beura established a gold jewellery manufacturing unit in partnership in Cuttack on Dec 3, 2022. They resigned on Sept 20, 2023, transferring the partnership to Karmakar’s wife Jonaki and one Sarat Chandra Swain. “Following the partnership transfer, the new partners sought a loan of Rs 3.5 crore from a nationalised bank in Cuttack in March 2024, fraudulently using another person’s land as collateral. Rather than investing the loan amount in their gold manufacturing business, the accused misappropriated the funds,” said EOW’s SP Dillip Kumar Tripathy.
The deception surfaced when the actual landowner attempted to sell his property a few months ago. The prospective buyer discovered the land was already pledged against the Rs 3.5 crore loan. Shocked by this revelation, the owner informed the bank that he had neither applied for any loan nor offered his property as collateral. Subsequently, the bank filed a complaint with the EOW on Feb 18 this year. “The investigation revealed that the five accused connived to deceive the bank. Another fraudster, currently at large, posed as the landowner during scrutiny before the loan approval. The group submitted falsified documents like Aadhaar and PAN card to verify the landowner’s identity,” Tripathy said.
The EOW suspects some bank employees’ involvement in the scam. Investigators wonder the bank’s failure to authenticate the forged documentation during their verification process. The investigating agency indicated that some more suspects involved in the scheme will be arrested soon. The EOW plans to seek police remand of the accused for further investigation into the operation.
During a search of the home guard’s rented accommodation at Canal Road in Chintamaniswar area, EOW officers discovered counterfeit Indian currency worth Rs 5,290 in denominations of Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 200. Various incriminating items were seized, including land sale deeds, land record of rights, Aadhaar, PAN, ATM cards and pass books from the possession of the homeguard. The Crime Branch’s special task force (STF) has registered a separate case to investigate the source of the counterfeit currency.
The EOW revealed that Prusty and Beura established a gold jewellery manufacturing unit in partnership in Cuttack on Dec 3, 2022. They resigned on Sept 20, 2023, transferring the partnership to Karmakar’s wife Jonaki and one Sarat Chandra Swain. “Following the partnership transfer, the new partners sought a loan of Rs 3.5 crore from a nationalised bank in Cuttack in March 2024, fraudulently using another person’s land as collateral. Rather than investing the loan amount in their gold manufacturing business, the accused misappropriated the funds,” said EOW’s SP Dillip Kumar Tripathy.
The deception surfaced when the actual landowner attempted to sell his property a few months ago. The prospective buyer discovered the land was already pledged against the Rs 3.5 crore loan. Shocked by this revelation, the owner informed the bank that he had neither applied for any loan nor offered his property as collateral. Subsequently, the bank filed a complaint with the EOW on Feb 18 this year. “The investigation revealed that the five accused connived to deceive the bank. Another fraudster, currently at large, posed as the landowner during scrutiny before the loan approval. The group submitted falsified documents like Aadhaar and PAN card to verify the landowner’s identity,” Tripathy said.
The EOW suspects some bank employees’ involvement in the scam. Investigators wonder the bank’s failure to authenticate the forged documentation during their verification process. The investigating agency indicated that some more suspects involved in the scheme will be arrested soon. The EOW plans to seek police remand of the accused for further investigation into the operation.
During a search of the home guard’s rented accommodation at Canal Road in Chintamaniswar area, EOW officers discovered counterfeit Indian currency worth Rs 5,290 in denominations of Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 200. Various incriminating items were seized, including land sale deeds, land record of rights, Aadhaar, PAN, ATM cards and pass books from the possession of the homeguard. The Crime Branch’s special task force (STF) has registered a separate case to investigate the source of the counterfeit currency.
