Two former officials of a cooperative bank in Odisha have been taken into custody for allegedly embezzling government funds by fraudulently creating loans against customers’ fixed deposits, according to officials.
The arrested persons have been identified as Dichen Kumar Mishra, a former manager, and Malay Dutta, a former staff member at the Bahalda branch of Mayurbhanj Central Cooperative Bank Ltd, officials stated.
Investigators said that between 2019 and 2024, the two accused, along with three other bank employees, allegedly opened fraudulent loan-against-term-deposit (LATD) accounts linked to 24 customer fixed deposits, all without the account holders’ knowledge or permission.
The funds were then illegally diverted, resulting in a total loss of Rs 64.42 lakh to the institution, officials reported.
State vigilance officials noted that an ongoing investigation is looking into the involvement of the remaining suspects and working to determine the extent of the fraud.
In a separate case, vigilance officers arrested Mausam Behera, previously the secretary of the Sunamudi Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society (PACS) in Bolangir district, over alleged financial financial irregularities involving Rs 22.19 lakh, officials said.
