ACTO, two others held for Rs 4 cr fraud

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance department on Thursday arrested three persons, including a senior government official, on the charges of misappropriation of public funds to the tune of over Rs 4 crore by producing forged documents.

The sleuths arrested two businessmen - Satyaki Pattanaik and Deeptikanta Choudhury - and a government official, Abinash Pradhan, currently posted as Assistant Commercial Tax Officer (ACTO), Jeypore in Koraput district. Sources said the Commissionerate of CT & GST, Bhubaneswar, during the audit, came to know about the fraud and informed the Vigilance department.

The Vigilance subsequently initiated a probe into the allegations of misappropriation of government money by the officials of CT & GST, Bhubaneswar by abusing their official power for refund of VAT and disbursement of over Rs 4.03 crore in favour of the suspicious private persons impersonated as the authorised person of the dealer M/s G E Verona T&D Ltd (formerly known as GE T&D India Ltd) by tampering with financial instruments and entertaining statutory forms containing forged signatures and seals submitted by them.

“During inquiry, it was revealed that the accused Satyaki Pattanaik and Deeptikanta Choudhury in connivance with the officials of CT & GST, Bhubaneswar have siphoned off Rs 4,03,09,723 by filing forged and fabricated appeal on behalf of the original Firm M/s G.E Verona T&D Ltd (formerly known as GE T&D India Ltd),” said a senior Vigilance official. The Vigilance later registered a criminal case under various sections of the IPC and PC Act against Satyaki, Deeptikanta, Abinash, other public servants and private persons involved in misappropriating the government funds.

The anti-corruption sleuths arrested the accused persons from different places in Bhubaneswar and Dhenkanal on Thursday. They were presented before the Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar that sent them to judicial custody.

As per reports, the State Vigilance has registered 90 cases against public servants in the past five months between June 1, 2024, and October 31, 2024. The Vigilance department has registered a maximum of 20 cases against officials from the Revenue department while 18 officials of the Panchayati Raj Department have fallen into the Vigilance net during this period.