Three arrested for  Rs1.17 cr bank fraud

BHUBANESWAR:  Three persons, including a couple, were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Crime Branch for fraudulently availing `1.17 crore loan from a public sector bank. The accused have been identified as Debi Prasad Patnaik, his wife Sanjukta Jena of Sakhigopal in Puri district and Khali Mohanty of Gangapur in Ganjam district.

According to EOW officers, a complaint was filed by Branch Manager of Allahabad Bank, Bapuji Nagar, Isidor Kujur, against the trio alleging that they availed loans fraudulently. In October 2013 Patnaik and his wife availed a loan of `39 lakh from the bank on the pretext of purchasing a flat in project Basera Impression Plus of M/s Basera Designs Private Limited. They had availed the loan in connivance with M/s Basera’s MD Manoj Kumar Patnaik.

After availing the loan, Debi and his wife did not furnish the collateral security and neither repaid the loan installments. Subsequently, the bank officials found out that the flat for which the couple had taken the loan belonged to the land owner’s share of flats. The outstanding amount of the loan till date stands at `46.52 lakh.

Similarly, Khali in connivance with Manoj fraudulently availed a loan of `30 lakh from the bank to purchase a flat at Basera Brindaban in Bomikhal. Khali too did not furnish the collateral security and defaulted the loan. He later sold the flat to another person. The outstanding amount of the loan till date stands at `36.79 lakh.“A case was registered in September this year. The accused were nabbed and were produced before a court on Wednesday,” a EOW officer said.