Bhubaneswar: CBI files case against ex-HAL employee, 5 others for funds misuse

BHUBANESWAR: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here has registered a fresh cheating case against a suspended officer of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL- engine division) in Koraput for allegedly misappropriating the company’s funds to the tune of Rs 17.67 lakh with the help of five other persons.
Nihar Ranjan Rath, the deputy general manager (finance-engine division), HAL, had lodged a complaint against Bhaben Maitra, the suspended senior manager (finance), and five others with the CBI in Bhubaneswar on September 29.
In the complaint, it was alleged that Maitra, who was the former deputy manager (finance), connived with the five other accused and embezzled the company’s funds between May 2011 and February 2013. The alleged misappropriation of funds came to the surface following HAL’s internal vigilance inquiry against the accused.
Besides naming Maitra in the FIR, the CBI registered a case against Maheswar Behera, a retired HAL engineer (shop), Tuhin Patari, private person; Jyoti Padhi, a former job contract labour, Manoranjan Mohapatra, an estate businessman, and Dhanurjaya Kanta, a labour contractor of HAL. Suspected complicity of some unknown HAL officials is also being investigated, the FIR said.
Maitra illegally transferred Rs 17.67 lakh from the bank account of HAL to the accounts of the five accused persons without any supporting documents and bills. Maitra abused his official position, committed criminal misconduct and forgery, a CBI officer said quoting the FIR.
Significantly, the CBI had earlier registered seven cases against Maitra between 2018 and 2019. The seven cases comprised six offences relating to a series of financial frauds in HAL and a disproportionate assets (DA) case.
The first case was registered against him and seven other persons on October 23, 2018 for allegedly embezzling Rs 5 crore in HAL. Again on January 29, 2019, the CBI registered five separate cases against him and some others for allegedly misappropriating nearly Rs 13 crore. The central investigating agency had registered a case against him on March 12, 2020 for allegedly possession of Rs 38.29 lakh disproportionate to his known sources of income.
“We have already filed a chargesheet against him in the six cases in the court. He was arrested in one of the previous cases and is currently out on bail. The fresh allegations of fraud against him are being investigated,” the CBI officer said.