ED seizes the possessions of the defendants in the Rs 18 crore home loan fraud case.

BHUBANESWARIn relation to a loan scam of Rs 18.79 crore that was allegedly committed by the accused in Bhubaneswar in 2017, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday attached properties worth around Rs 19.67 crore belonged to a builder and three former bank officials.

The ED began an investigation last year based on three FIRs filed by the CBI in Bhubaneswar against builder Uma Shankar Patro, three former officers of a nationalized bank (identified as Bhubaneswar Mohapatra, Ashwini Patra, and Rajesh Patanga), and some other private individuals on July 1, 2019. They were accused of taking out multiple housing loans from the bank’s Nayapalli branch in 2017 and misappropriating Rs18.

On May 18 of this year, the ED conducted search operations at eight home and business locations belonging to Patro and the other accused parties, seizing items worth around Rs 15 lakh, gold jewelry worth about Rs 1.3 crore, papers that may be used as evidence, and technological gadgets.

We have temporarily attached all assets totaling Rs 19.67 crore in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2002. The connected properties comprise 57 immovable assets (land and buildings) totaling Rs 19,57,73,370 in Puri and Bhubaneswar, as well as mobile assets in the form of bank and mutual fund balances totaling Rs 9,49,657.

The accused former bank executives, according to the ED, are accused of conspiring with Patro, other builders, and borrowers to approve home loans by accepting fake documents and going beyond the bank’s rules.

Patro and his family members are accused of misusing public funds by diverting the loan money to their individual accounts. According to ED sources, they didn’t complete any housing projects.

The CBI conducted a raid on the assets of a jewelry store owned by Patro’s family in the Cuttack Road neighborhood of this city in July of this year in connection with yet another bank loan scam totaling over Rs 7 crore.

A nationalized bank had filed a case with the CBI, alleging Patro and his family of using false documents to obtain a Rs 6 crore loan from the bank’s Old Station Bazar branch in 2013. In February 2020, the loan account became NPA.