Irregularities to the tune of over Rs 8 crore have been reported in the Central Cooperative Bank limited (SDCC), Rourkela Branch, by a special audit team engaged by the Auditor General Cooperative Societies (AGCS).
According to sources, after getting the report from an accountant regarding the misappropriation of Rs 5.12 crore in the SDCC in Rourkela from 2007-08 to 2011-12, the AGCS had authorised SAAGCS, Balangir Audit Circle BC Mishra and Sundargarh Audit Circle ACS Sudhir Kumar Panigrahi to conduct and complete the special audit jointly of the Branch Adjustment Account, Pay Order Account, lAD and loan Account and other relevant accounts. The audit team was also instructed to mention and fix the responsibility on the person for misappropriation.
As per the audit report, while during the 2007-08 financial year, the recoverable amount is Rs 3.85 crore, it is Rs 1.12 crore in 2008-09, Rs 1.51 crore in 2009-10, Rs 1.53 crore in 2010-11 and 2011-12 and Rs 10 lakh between April 1, 2012 and April 20, 2012. For the recoverable amount, the audit team fixed responsibility on former branch manager SC Rath and former accountant NN Nayak. Despite the special audit report neither any action has been initiated to recover the amount nor is any stringent action initiated against those tainted officers so far. Even from 2004-05 to 2006-07, a sum of Rs 2.97 crore was bungled, the auditors marked.
The audit report not only raises eyebrows among the investors but also puts a question mark on the transparency in the administration. There is also allegation that some BJD leaders are hand-in-glove in the scam. The question is, if OJM leader Jageswar Babu was put behind the bars in OSCB scam, then why the Government is silent on SDCC irregularitiesIJ After the disclosure, many depositors rushed to discontinue their accounts in the bank.