Four arrested for Rs 2 cr bank fraud

BHUBANESWAR: Economic Offences Wing (EOW) officials on Saturday arrested four persons, including a former branch manager of Odisha Gramya Bank, in connection with a `2.02 crore fraud.
The accused have been identified as former manager of Odisha Gramya Bank’s Rasulgarh branch Prasanna Kumar Jena, Bikram Keshari Pradhan of Gangotri Nagar, his wife Rajalaxmi Pradhan and Madan Mohan Pradhan of Sisupalgarh.

The agency had registered a case on November 3 basing on the complaint of bank’s regional manager, Pipili, Debadutta Nanda. The accused had availed the loan on the pretext of purchasing Hyva trucks and one SUV by submitting forged documents. Later, they did not purchase any vehicle and misappropriated the loan amount with the help of Jena.

Bikram had availed two loans of `41.7 lakh and `36 lakh for purchasing two Hyva trucks, his wife had availed ` 9 lakh loan for a SUV, while her brother Madan had obtained `40 lakh for two Hyva trucks.
“The four persons were arrested and produced before a court in Bhubaneswar on Saturday,” an EOW officer said.