Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police Thursday arrested a LIC agent on the charge of misappropriating Rs 1.81 crore by making claims from policies issued in the names of dead persons, police said.
The arrested LIC agent was identified as Kabiraj Behera of Jhadakata under Kanas police limits in Puri district.
The EOW arrested Behera based on an investigation made on the complaint filed by the authorised officer of LIC's Khurda branch.
"He was arrested after recovery of some objectionable documents from his house," SP D K Tripathy told reporters here. He said the complaint had alleged that Behera had cheated the LIC to the tune of Rs 1.18 crore by submitting false death claims in connivance with nominees of deceased persons.
The SP said the investigation revealed that Behera, had fraudulently managed to get 23 policies in the names of four dead persons, falsely showing them as alive, between 2013 and 2019. He was working as a LIC agent since 2003, police said.
The police said Behera used to pay premium amount for each policy from his pocket for stipulated period before making claims using fake death certificates. He used to apply death claims in favour of the nominees in the LIC branch office in Khurda and attempted to avail the financial benefits/death claims against those 23 policies.
It has been ascertained that the insurance policies were taken subsequent to the actual death of insured persons but the premium was being paid regularly. In all the policies, the sum assured was deliberately kept less than Rs 10 lakh as it comes under the financial power to settle the death benefits by the branch manager, without referring to the divisional office, the police investigation revealed.
It has been ascertained that the total amount of claims raised by the nominees of 23 policies through the present accused was more than Rs 1.81 crore and against five policies, the LIC has released payments, according to a release of the EOW.
Behera has been booked under various sections of IPC, it added.
PTI
