Ex-Treasury Official, 5 Aides Held in Rs 8 Crore Fund Scam

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Sunday arrested a former Senior Assistant of Chandbali Sub-Treasury in Bhadrak district along with five of his associates for allegedly misappropriating government funds worth more than Rs 8 crore.

The arrested accused have been identified as Santosh Panda, former Senior Assistant at Chandbali Sub-Treasury office, and his aides — Siba Shankar Samal, Deb Shankar Samal, Prafulla Kumar Rout, Sandip Kumar Mitra and Abhay Kumar Panda.

According to the Vigilance Department, the accused allegedly siphoned off government funds amounting to Rs 8.04 crore between July 25, 2018 and May 4, 2023.

Investigations revealed that Panda, during his tenure at the sub-treasury office, manipulated the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) and diverted government money into the bank accounts of 37 individuals through 102 fraudulent bills.

The misappropriated funds were originally meant for pension and gratuity payments of retired government employees, officials said.

Sources said Panda had been suspended around six months ago following allegations of financial irregularities.

The Odisha Vigilance has registered a case against Panda and the other accused under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, along with relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“We are conducting further investigation into the case. Steps are being taken to identify and arrest the other accused persons,” a Vigilance official said.