Bhubaneswar: In a significant development, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested six individuals, including a woman, for allegedly defrauding the State Bank of India (SBI) of Rs 16.71 crore. The accused reportedly posed as officials of leading digital payments company, PhonePe, to orchestrate the scam. They are said to have set up a counterfeit PhonePe office and submitted fabricated salary slips reflecting high incomes to deceive bank officials and secure fraudulent loan approvals.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested the main accused Anirban Patnaik and his wife Anupama Dash from Bhubaneswar, Tophan Rout and Satyaban Rout from Khandapada in Nayagarh district, Tukuna Mallick from Badamba in Cuttack and Feroz Khan from Kakatpur in Puri district. The EOW had registered a case in this connection on August 12 after receiving a complaint from manager of SBI, Bhubaneswar (regional business office) Shiba Sundar Sahoo.
It has recently come to the knowledge of PhonePe Private Limited (“PhonePe”) that certain persons have been arrested by the Economics Offenses Wing of the Odisha Police for falsely representing themselves as employees of PhonePe to avail loans from State Bank of India under fraudulent pretense. At the outset, PhonePe unequivocally states that the arrested persons are in no way associated with PhonePe or its employees at any point of time. Such persons have never been employed by the company and that any documents in relation to PhonePe used by such persons are forged documents.
PhonePe, as a responsible and law-abiding organization, has been cooperating fully with the Economic Offences Wing of the Odisha Police and the State Bank of India to support their investigation. We remain committed to providing assistance whenever necessary. Furthermore, PhonePe strongly condemns the unauthorized and illegal use of its name and goodwill by these individuals.”
