Bhubaneswar, Jul 29 (IANS): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Bhubaneswar has arrested a former branch manager of Central Bank of India (CBI), for his alleged involvement in a Rs 1.09 crore loan fraud case, an official said on Saturday.

The accused Swayam Prakash Parida, who was absconding for long, was arrested from Cuttack on Friday.

He will be produced before the SDJM, Bhubaneswar on Saturday. He has already been dismissed from the service.

Parida was working as branch manager at CBI’s Palaspalli branch from May 11, 2015 to November 23, 2017.

During his incumbency, he has sanctioned 24 vehicle loans and one CC loan with the amount varying from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 9.75 lakh under the ‘Cent Vehicle Schemes’ in the name of different people based on the forged KYC and loan documents, the EOW official said.

He, in conspiracy with one Maitreya Mishra who was earlier arrested in this case, has sanctioned the loans in the name of different persons including the fake ones and diverted the loan amount to different accounts so opened by Maitreya Mishra in the name of reputed vehicle dealers like Shree Bharat Motors, City Motors, Aditya Motors, Utkal Automobiles and Rajpath K.T.M, by using fake documents.

Thereafter, the accused got the sanctioned loan amounts credited to the accounts so opened with different banks and misappropriated the same, the official said.

The EOW found that an amount of Rs 1.09 crore in respect of the 24 vehicle loans and one CC loan have been sanctioned/disbursed illegally, and the amount was misappropriated by the above accused.

The loans were sanctioned for purchase of the vehicles, but fake insurance certificates, cover notes, payment receipts in respect of the vehicles were submitted without purchase of any vehicle. There was no hypothecation of the vehicles to the lender bank.

As a result, the bank could not recover the loan amounts in absence of any co-lateral security and thus suffered heavy loss.