BHUBANESWAR: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police has arrested a middleman in connection with the SBI loan fraud case.
EOW officials said, the accused Pradipta Kumar Lenka acted as a middleman and helped several ineligible persons obtain Xpress credit loans from different branches of the SBI through forged salary certificates, employment records, bank statements and KYC documents.
The fraud reportedly took place between May 2022 and November 2023 at SBI’s Rail Vihar, Fortune Tower, Patia and Damana branches.
A total of 282 loans amounting to Rs 6.88 crore were allegedly sanctioned using fake documents in the names of employees of reputed companies such as Tata Steel, TPCODL, Vedanta, Dhamra Port and Aarti Steels.
After availing the loans, many borrowers allegedly stopped paying EMIs, causing the accounts to turn into non-performing assets (NPAs).
During investigation, EOW found that Rs 3.23 lakh from the loan accounts had been diverted to Lenka’s account. Investigators suspect he played a key role in arranging forged documents.
Earlier, four other accused Smruti Ranjan Mohanty, Baishakhi Saha, Charubala Dandasena and Sarita Paikaray had been arrested in connection with the case and are currently in judicial custody.
Police have seized a mobile phone and other incriminating materials from the accused arrested in the state capital. Further investigation is in progress, cops said.