A vigilance court sentenced dismissed IAS officer Vinod Kumar and six others to three years of rigorous imprisonment for involvement in a loan fraud case. This marks his 12th conviction in the ORHDC corruption scam involving various others.
Bhubaneswar: A vigilance court sentenced Vinod Kumar, a dismissed IAS officer, along with six others to three years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for their involvement in a loan fraud case.
This marks the 12th conviction related to corruption in the Odisha Rural Housing and Development Corporation (ORHDC) orchestrated by Vinod Kumar, the then managing director, along with other officials in collaboration with private individuals.
The court found Kumar, company secretary Swosti Ranjan Mohapatra, junior loan officer Satya Prakash Behera, accounts officer Pradeep Kumar Rout, assistant system analyst Jnanendra Swain, recovery assistant Umesh Chandra Swain, and Sangram Keshari Sahoo, proprietor of M/s Ecstasy Builders and Developers Private Limited, guilty.
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According to a Vigilance officer, the investigation revealed that these former officials misappropriated the corporation’s funds totaling Rs 52.95 lakh, which were intended for impoverished rural citizens, by abusing their official powers and granting undue favor to builder Sahoo using fabricated documents.
During his tenure as MD of ORHDC in 1999, the 1989-batch IAS officer had unlawfully sanctioned housing funds amounting to Rs 33.34 crore when rural housing development was prioritized following the Super Cyclone, the officer added.
The Odisha Vigilance charged the accused under Sections 13(2) in conjunction with 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as well as under Sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery aimed at cheating), 471 (using forged documents as if they were authentic), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
The authorities alleged that the officials misused their official positions, forming a criminal conspiracy with a private developer to create fake and forged documents.
Funds designated for housing assistance to impoverished rural beneficiaries were reportedly misappropriated to benefit the private company, resulting in a significant loss to the government’s finances.
The court noted that the prosecution had effectively demonstrated the conspiracy and the illicit diversion of public funds, culminating in the conviction of all defendants.
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