GUWAHATI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint against former Assam Gramin Vikash Bank (AGVB) branch head Dibyajyoti Kalita and Birbahu Brahma of Nabagram village in Dudhnoi, Goalpara district, in connection with an alleged ₹7.28 crore fraud at the bank’s Lahorijan branch in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district.
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According to the ED, Kalita allegedly conspired with Brahma to misappropriate ₹7.28 crore from the Adjustment Clearing Account of AGVB’s Lahorijan branch while serving as branch head between December 2020 and April 2021. Investigators alleged that the amount was siphoned off through 20 unauthorised transactions carried out by misusing Finacle banking software credentials without supporting vouchers or customer instructions.
The agency claimed the proceeds of crime were layered through fictitious customer accounts, multiple Self-Help Group (SHG) and society accounts opened on a single day, and a chain of term deposits and loans against deposits created in fabricated names before the funds were allegedly routed to the personal accounts of the principal accused, his wife, a tea-business partnership firm, and surrogate accounts linked to relatives and associates of the second accused that were allegedly operated through signed blank cheques.
The case originated from an FIR registered at Khatkhati Police Station in Karbi Anglong district under charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust. The probe was later taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s Anti-Corruption Branch in Shillong, which subsequently filed a chargesheet against the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The ED said searches conducted under Section 17 of the PMLA at the residences of the accused on November 28, 2024 led to the seizure of handwritten notebooks allegedly recording joint investments, multiple property documents, cheque books in the names of third parties allegedly found in the possession of Birbahu Brahma, and a RuPay debit card issued in the name of Dibyajyoti Kalita that was recovered from Brahma’s residence.
The prosecution complaint has been filed before the Special Court for PMLA cases in Guwahati under Sections 44(1)(b) and 45(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 for offences defined under Section 3 and punishable under Section 4 of the Act.
Further investigation is in progress.