Four officials from Assam Gramin Vikash Bank have been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for an ₹8 crore fraud. The officials are accused of sanctioning loans to fictitious self-help groups and transferring the money into their own accounts.
The officials involved in the fraud include assistant manager Prasanta Borah, who is the head of the Madhopur branch in Jorhat. The CBI filed a First Information Report (FIR) on June 14 based on a complaint by Assam Gramin Vikash Bank (AGVB), a government-owned Regional Rural Bank in Guwahati. Currently, the officials are under suspension.
According to a statement from the CBI, on Tuesday they conducted searches at seven locations in Assam, including the residential and official premises of the accused in Jorhat, Tinsukia, and Dibrugarh. They also searched one location in West Bengal, where incriminating documents were recovered.
As per the bank’s complaint, Prasanta Borah executed unauthorized transactions by illegally transferring funds from the branch office’s Self Help Group Cash Credit and Self Help Group Savings Bank accounts. He disguised these transfers by using fictitious beneficiaries and transferred the funds to his personal account at the State Bank of India in Jorhat. This allegedly caused a loss of approximately Rs. 8,28,42,900/- to the bank, while benefiting the accused.
The FIR states that Prasanta Borah acted in connivance with the branch’s assistant managers, Priyankshu Pallabh Gogoi and Sohan Dutta, as well as an office assistant named Satyajit Chalha. The CBI has registered a case against them and others involved in the alleged criminal conspiracy and fraudulent activities causing loss to the bank.