Bhubaneswar: The economic offences wing (EOW) of the crime branch on Thursday arrested a Chhattisgarh-based businessman for his alleged involvement in a Rs 9.56 crore bank fraud carried out using cloned cheques.The accused, Brajesh Mishra (46), of Jhalap village under Patewa police limits in Mahasamund district, owns two companies in Chhattisgarh. According to EOW investigators, Mishra is part of a larger inter-state gang that illegally transferred Rs 9.56 crore from the account of the district mineral foundation trust of Mayurbhanj zilla parishad, maintained with a nationalised bank at Baripada branch in Mayurbhanj district.“The fraud was allegedly executed by producing four cloned cheques on April 10 and April 18, 2024,” an EOW officer said. The EOW registered a cheating case on April 19, 2024.Officials said the gang managed to transfer Rs 9,56,76,600 into two accounts in the name of a private firm, which was later diverted across multiple accounts. During investigation, authorities blocked Rs 5.04 crore and froze Rs 13.56 lakh spread across 33 accounts.A senior EOW officer revealed that Rs 98,30,158 and Rs 49,19,920 were routed to Mishra’s two companies. Of this, Rs 14.19 lakh was transferred to his personal account, while the rest was funneled into other accounts.Police described Mishra as a “key associate” of a sophisticated gang operating across Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha. The syndicate has allegedly been running cheque-cloning scams for the past four years, employing methods such as forging and cloning cheques, multi-layered money transfers, creation and operation of multiple bank accounts and withdrawals through intermediaries and local touts.Between April and July 2024, the EOW arrested three other accused — Pomesh Tembhare (Madhya Pradesh), Ghanshyam Ahuja (Chhattisgarh), and Ajmir Mondal (West Bengal) — in connection with the same racket.“Mishra’s arrest has provided crucial leads that may help dismantle the wider network behind the fraud,” the EOW officer said.
