MP native arrested for fraud of Rs 9.56 crore from DMF fund
Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of the crime branch has arrested a native of Madhya Pradesh for allegedly withdrawing Rs 9.56 crore from the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund of Mayurbhanj.
Accused Pomesh Tembhare of Bangalitola in Balaghat had switched off his mobile phone and was hiding in a village affected by Left Wing Extremism to avoid arrest. He was caught by EOW with the assistance of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and Madhya Pradesh Police and brought to Odisha. He was produced in the OPID court of Balasore on Monday.
EOW had taken over the investigation of the case from Mayurbhanj Police. The DMF account of Zilla Parishad is in Bank of India. In the complaint, the chief manager of the bank had said that illegal transactions of more than Rs 9.56 crore were made from the account by giving four checks on April 10 and 18.
During investigation, EOW officials found that the savings account of the Zilla Parishad is in the name of District Mineral Foundation Trust in the Baripada branch of Bank of India. The fraudsters generated forged/cloned checks and managed to transfer Rs 9,56,76,600 to two accounts registered in the name of PT Construction and Suppliers in Bank of Maharashtra and SK Enterprises in Punjab and Sindh Bank.
The money was further transferred to other bank accounts. Of the total amount, more than Rs 5 crore was blocked and Rs 13.56 lakh lying in 33 accounts were frozen. “Pomesh Tembhare is the owner/signing authority of PT Construction & Suppliers. More than Rs 2.68 crore was transferred to the firm’s bank account. “Apart from making the withdrawals himself, Tembhare had transferred the money to several other accounts,” said EOW IG, Jai Narayan Pankaj.
The EOW said Tembhare is a member of a large gang with a complex network in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. The agency has collected important clues regarding the members of the group. They have been engaged in such scams for the last four years, sources said.
The gang members were committing crimes by carefully planning such as cloning of cheques, opening and operating multiple bank accounts, maintaining information networks with the help of local brokers and others. The EOW said further investigation is underway and efforts are on to nab the mastermind and other members of the group.
