Odisha banker held for processing 85 fake loans worth Rs 8 crore

BHUBANESWAR: The EOW of the state crime branch arrested an SBI officer on Thursday for allegedly processing loans worth Rs 8 crore in the names of dead and ineligible beneficiaries, and siphoning off the money to his own accounts for investment in Ponzi business.
EOW identified the accused as Asutosh Acharya, a deputy manager-cum-field officer of SBI’s Phulbani branch in Kandhamal district.
Narrating Acharya’s modus operandi, the EOW said he recommended and processed loans in favour of 85 people, which included a few dead men, his parents and close relatives. While none of them had applied for any loan, Acharya allegedly hatched a plan to misappropriate the banks money by preparing fake and forged loan applications in the names of the ineligible people.
"As per the bank’s complaint lodged with us on April 3, Acharya processed 59 Xpress credit worth about Rs 6.77 crore and 26 pension loans worth Rs 99.82 lakh between September 2021 and September 2022. Though Xpress credit is meant for salaried employees and pension loan for pensioners, Acharya allegedly processed the loans in favour of ineligible and fake beneficiaries. On the basis of his recommendation and field verification, the bank sanctioned and disbursed the loans," said EOW’s inspector general J N Pankaj.
EOW sources said Acharya paid EMIs for some months. When he stopped paying EMIs, the loan accounts turned sick and were marked as special mentioned accounts, raising an alarm in the top management of the bank that subsequently conducted the internal audit in October last year.
The fraud came to light after completion of the audit a few weeks ago. The bank found that Acharya used forged documents to process the loans. When the loan amounts were credited to the accounts of the borrowers, Acharya fraudulently transferred the money to the accounts of his close friends and relatives. He later withdrew the money and invested it in chit fund business.
“We are examining the roles of Acharya’s relatives and other bank officials in the fraud. If they are found having links with Acharya’s offence, we will arrest them, Pankaj said.