Bhubaneswar, May 28: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police has arrested an alleged middleman in connection with a massive Rs 6.88 crore loan fraud involving the State Bank of India (SBI), officials said on Thursday.
The accused, identified as Pradipta Kumar Lenka of Cuttack, was apprehended from Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. The arrest was made in connection with a case registered at the EOW Police Station on May 5, 2026, following a complaint lodged by Shiba Sundar Sahoo, Regional Manager of SBI’s Regional Business Office (RBO), Bhubaneswar.
According to investigators, the accused persons, acting in conspiracy with others, fraudulently secured 282 SBI Xpress Credit Loans worth Rs 6.88 crore from SBI branches at Rail Vihar, Fortune Tower, Patia and Damana between May 2022 and November 2023.
The loans were allegedly sanctioned based on forged employment documents falsely portraying applicants as employees of reputed companies such as Tata Steel Ltd., TPCODL, Vedanta Ltd., Dhamra Port and Aarati Steels Ltd.
In a statement, the EOW said Lenka, along with other accused and loan beneficiaries, played a key role in facilitating the approval and disbursal of loans meant for corporate and government employees to 282 ineligible individuals. Fake salary certificates, fabricated employment records, forged bank statements and manipulated KYC documents were allegedly used to secure the loans.
Officials said many borrowers later defaulted on EMI payments, causing the loan accounts to turn into non-performing assets (NPAs). The outstanding amount in the fraud currently stands at Rs 6,88,29,323.
During the probe, investigators found that Rs 3.23 lakh from the fraudulent loan transactions had allegedly been transferred to Lenka’s bank account. The EOW further revealed that he acted as a middleman by arranging fake documents in exchange for monetary benefits.
Earlier, four other accused persons, including three bank officials — Smruti Ranjan Mohanty, Baishakhi Saha, Charubala Dandasena and Sarita Paikaray — were arrested in connection with the case and are presently in judicial custody.
The EOW has seized several incriminating materials, including a mobile phone suspected to contain crucial evidence linked to the fraud. Further investigation is underway.
