BHUBANESWAR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted raids on the property of officials of at least two construction firms for their alleged involvement in a bank fraud to the tune of Rs 24.17 crore.The accused, identified as director of GDS Builders Pvt Ltd Umasankar Patro and director of Surnag Builders Pvt Ltd Ashok Patro, are relatives.
The central agency, on the day, conducted raids at eight locations of the duo including Umasankar’s house in Budheswari Colony and Ashok’s residence at Gautam Nagar. Besides, property of some other officials of the two firms were also raided.A case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2020 was registered and the duo along with a few other persons were questioned on the issue.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier registered three separate cases in this regard in 2019 against three former officials of Union Bank of India’s Nayapalli branch for fraudulently sanctioning housing loans to different builders including Umasankar Patro.