Bhubaneswar: In a significant crackdown on financial irregularities within cooperative institutions, vigilance sleuths on Friday arrested a cooperative banking officer for allegedly misappropriating government funds amounting to Rs 33,80,963.
The officer, identified as Patitapaban Majhi, formerly served as secretary of the Garhsantri Service Co-operative Society under the Angul United Central Co-operative Bank Ltd (AUCCB), Banarpal branch. He is currently posted as a banking assistant at the AUCCB headquarters in Angul.
According to vigilance officials, the alleged embezzlement came to light following an investigation into the diversion of government funds exceeding Rs 33 lakh. The probe revealed that the financial irregularities dated back to the 2017-18 financial year, when Patitapaban was serving as executive secretary of the Garhsantri Service Co-operative Society.
Investigators found that Majhi had been entrusted with handling daily financial collections and government deposits. During this period, he allegedly made fraudulent and fabricated entries in the society's primary account records, including day books, to conceal the diversion of funds. Although the records showed the transactions as balanced and properly accounted for, the corresponding cash was allegedly never deposited in the bank.
Further investigations are underway to determine if more individuals are involved in the scam. The vigilance department has also initiated a detailed audit of the society's accounts to trace any additional misappropriation.
