The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police has uncovered a massive bank loan scam worth Rs 8.1 crore and arrested four people for orchestrating the fraud using fake job and salary documents.
Who Was Arrested?
The four accused are:
- Smruti Ranjan Sethy
- M. Dibyashree Jyoti Ranjan (both arrested from Jagatsinghpur)
- Niranjan Behera
- Debasish Behera (nabbed from Nayapalli area in Bhubaneswar)
All of them were taken into custody on Monday and produced in the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (OPID) Court in Cuttack, which sent them to 14 days of judicial custody.
What Was the Fraud?
The case was initiated following a complaint by Shiba Sundara Sahoo, Regional Manager of State Bank of India (SBI), Bhubaneswar. He alleged that a group of fraudsters managed to illegally avail 234 personal loans under the “Xpress Credit” scheme between 2021 and 2023, across several SBI branches.
Here’s what they did:
- The gang created fake employment records and posed as employees of well-known companies like:
- Falcon Marine Exports Ltd.
- Muthoot Microfin Ltd.
- Narayana Hrudayalaya Ltd.
- G4S Secure Solutions
- Capital Trust Ltd., and others.
- Using these forged documents — such as salary slips, bank statements, KYC, and employment letters — they helped 234 ineligible individuals secure loans totaling Rs 8.1 crore.
- Once the loans were disbursed, the borrowers defaulted on the repayments, causing the accounts to become Non-Performing Assets (NPAs).
As per current records, the bank is left with over Rs 4.77 crore in unpaid dues.
Money Trail and Role of Middlemen
The investigation revealed that the four arrested individuals were middlemen. They created and arranged the forged documents in exchange for money.
Police traced specific amounts that were transferred to their accounts from the loan proceeds:
- Smruti Ranjan – Rs 19.08 lakh
- Dibyashree – Rs 2.42 lakh
- Niranjan – Rs 94,000
- Debasish – Rs 50,000
Seizures and Evidence
During their arrest, the EOW team seized:
- 1 laptop
- 5 mobile phones
- Other incriminating materials linked to the scam
What Happens Next?
The EOW is now continuing the probe to:
- Identify more people involved, including loan applicants and any insiders
- Recover more money and assets acquired using the fraud
- Tighten monitoring of document verification processes at bank branches
This fraud highlights a serious vulnerability in the bank loan approval process — where fake employment details were enough to siphon off crores from a reputed bank. The EOW’s swift action and arrests are a major step towards cracking down on organised financial crime in Odisha.
