BHUBANESWAR: Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested a Bhubaneswar-based businessman for allegedly defrauding IDBI bank of nearly Rs 4.8 crore by mortgaging four submerged plots to avail Rs 80 lakh loan in 2009.
The accused is identified as Narendra Kumar Sahoo (50), who owns a timber depot near Damana Chhak in Chandrasekharpur area.
The EOW registered a case against Sahoo on August 26, last year, on the basis of a complaint lodged by Asit Kumar Parhi, senior regional head of IDBI bank’s Janpath branch in Bhubaneswar.
The EOW said Sahoo was sanctioned a cash credit (CC) loan of Rs 80 lakh from the bank in 2009 against the mortgage of six homestead plots located in Kantabada Mouza under Chandaka police limits in Bhubaneswar.
“The accused purposely did not repay the loan. As of now, the loan’s outstanding interest has climbed up to Rs 4.8 crore,” an EOW officer said.
Asked why the bank lodged the complaint almost 11 years after Sahoo became a defaulter, the EOW said the bank had been unsuccessfully trying all these years to persuade him to repay the loan.
Sahoo was on the run for the past few months.
During investigation, the probe agency found Sahoo resorted to forgery and conspiracy to avail the CC loan.
“He had mortgaged six plots near the bank. Surprisingly, four plots had already been submerged during construction of Jhumka dam long before he applied for the loan. In 2011-12, the accused sold the remaining two mortgaged plots to six persons without the knowledge of the bank,” the EOW officer said.
The probe agency strongly suspects the involvement of some bank officials in the scam.
“We wonder as to how the bank authorities could not know that the four mortgaged plots were already submerged in the dam before sanction of the loan. Their field officials should have properly verified his land documents from revenue officials before approving his loan. A nexus and conspiracy between the accused and some bank officials cannot be ruled out,” the officer said.
The IDBI bank authorities refused to comment.