Corruption
Odisha IAS Officer Convicted for 11th Time in Corruption Case
Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) Managing Director (MD) and tainted IAS officer Vinod Kumar has been convicted for the eleventh time in a corruption case. The Odisha Vigilance Court in Bhubaneswar sentenced him and six others to three years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each for misappropriating funds.
The case involves the illegal sanctioning of loans to M/s City Builders, causing significant financial loss to ORHDC. Odisha Vigilance confirmed the verdict via its official ‘X’ handle, stating that Vinod Kumar and his associates were found guilty of financial misconduct that facilitated fraudulent loan disbursements.
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Series of Corruption Convictions
Vinod Kumar has been previously convicted in ten other corruption cases, all linked to financial irregularities during his tenure at ORHDC. His repeated convictions underscore deep-rooted corruption issues within the corporation, which has faced widespread public and governmental criticism over the years.
One of the previous corruption cases involved M/s Home Life Builder, which fraudulently obtained a loan in 2000 to construct 38 duplexes. Investigations revealed that the loan was sanctioned based on fake documents, and the company was not the actual owner of the pledged land. The case led to the arrests of the then-company secretary Swasti Ranjan Mahapatra, former loan approval officer Umesh Swain, and two managing partners of the builder firm. Vinod Kumar, along with Mahapatra and Swain, was accused of criminal conspiracy and undue favoritism toward private construction firms. The Bhubaneswar Vigilance Court’s latest ruling is part of its continued efforts to hold corrupt senior officials accountable for their actions.
The Odisha Vigilance’s ongoing crackdown on financial mismanagement and fraudulent loan approvals highlights the state’s commitment to tackling corruption within government institutions.
