SAMBALPUR/BHUBANESWAR: Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested two former officials of Syndicate Bank, Burla branch in connection with Rs 1.96 crore agriculture loan fraud.
The duo, former manager Subash Chandra Dash and the then assistant manager Marianus Lakra, was arrested from Ainthapalli in Sambalpur. While Dash had taken voluntary retirement, Lakra was serving in a branch in Bargarh district.
The arrests came after Regional Manager of Syndicate Bank, Bhubaneswar Chandrakanta Dasmohapatra lodged a complaint with EOW alleging that when Dash and Lakra were manager and assistant manager respectively of Burla branch, they had sanctioned 196 agriculture loans (Syndicate Kisan card scheme) fraudulently between 2014 and 2016.
According to the complaint, the accused disbursed Rs 1 lakh to each fictitious person basing on forged documents. Later, the loans turned into non-performing asset (NPA), which caused wrongful loss to the bank. On the basis of the complaint, EOW registered a case on November 6.
“Investigation revealed that Dash had disbursed the amount, while Lakra had recommended to pass the loans. Forged documents like ID proofs along with application forms were submitted at the branch,” an EOW officer said.In some instances, loans were sanctioned to dead persons.
Searches were also conducted at the residential premises of the accused. Dash and Lakra were produced in a court in Sambalpur on Wednesday.