Odisha: Six arrested in Rs 16.71 crore loan fraud case in SBI

Odisha Police arrested four persons in connection with a large-scale loan fraud as they allegedly duped the State Bank of India (SBI) of ₹16.71 crore.

Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police has arrested six persons in connection with a large-scale loan fraud as they allegedly duped the State Bank of India (SBI) of ₹16.71 crores.
The accused, identified as Anirban Patnaik and Anupama Dash from Bhubaneswar, Tophan Rout and Satyaban Rout from Khandapada, Tukuna Mallick from Badamba and Feroz Khan from Kakatpur, were produced before a court on Wednesday.
According to an official statement issued by the EOW, the arrests followed a complaint filed by Shiba Sundara Sahoo, Regional Manager of SBI, Bhubaneswar. The complainant alleged that the accused fraudulently obtained 161 Xpress Credit Loans from various SBI branches in Bhubaneswar using fabricated employment records between November 2022 and October 2023.
The loans, totalling ₹16.71 crores, were obtained from branches at Jaydev Vihar (139), Patia (5), Raghunathpur (11), and Jharpada (6).

Modus Operandi
Investigations revealed that Anirban Patnaik had rented a building in DLF, Patia, Bhubaneswar, purportedly to operate his company, Purvi Venture Pvt. Ltd. However, in collaboration with the other accused, the building was falsely presented as the regional office of PhonePe by displaying signboards and stickers of the company.
The accused also created a fake email account resembling that of PhonePe. Using these fraudulent measures, they approached various SBI branches for Xpress Credit Loans, submitting inflated salary slips and forged employment certificates, falsely claiming to be employees of PhonePe.
During the bank's pre-sanction verification process, the rented building was shown as PhonePe's regional office, and the fake email was used to verify the loan applicants' employment status. This deception led to the approval of 161 loans in the name of different individuals using forged documents.

Fraudulent Gains
The investigation further revealed that the accused were taking 35% of the sanctioned loan amounts from the loanees in return for facilitating the loans. Loanees were asked to submit personal identification documents, including Aadhaar and PAN cards, while other necessary documents were arranged by the brokers involved in the scheme. To further the ruse, amounts were transferred to the loanees' accounts for several months to create the appearance of regular salary deposits.When the loans turned into non-performing assets due to non-repayment, the bank initiated an internal investigation, uncovering the fraudulent scheme.

Incriminating Evidence
Among those arrested, Tophan Rout, Feroz Khan, and Anupama Dash were found to have secured loans by submitting fake documents, including fabricated employment certificates and inflated salary slips, with assistance from the other accused.Several incriminating materials, including mobile phones containing evidence of the fraudulent activities, were recovered and seized during the investigation.

Source: Sambad English