Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police has arrested Prashanta Kumar Mallick, a gold appraiser at the State Bank of India’s Balichandrapur branch in Jagatsinghpur district, for allegedly misappropriating Rs 5.21 crore through fraudulent gold loan disbursements.
According to an EOW release, Mallick was taken into custody on Tuesday from Bhubaneswar and will be produced before the designated court under the OPID Act in Cuttack.
The case was registered on February 10, 2026, based on a complaint filed by Peeyus Ranjan Swain, Regional Manager of SBI Jagatsinghpur. According to the complaint, between October 2024 and July 2025, Mallick, who had been serving as senior associate-cum-cash in-charge at the branch since June 2022, sanctioned and disbursed 105 gold loans totalling Rs 5,21,42,000 without proper documentation or genuine gold ornaments as security.
As gold appraiser, Mallick was responsible for verifying ornaments with a goldsmi
th, ensuring all eligibility criteria and documents were in order, recommending loans for sanction, and maintaining custody of loan papers and pledged gold along with the service manager, it further stated.
The fraud came to light during a routine visit by Chief Manager Manorama Rout from SBI Balasore in 2025. Mallick failed to produce the relevant gold loan files and absconded without notice. Suspecting irregularities, Rout ordered an immediate spot audit followed by a detailed internal probe. The investigation revealed that out of the 105 accounts, 31 involved pledging of spurious or fake gold ornaments, while 74 loans were sanctioned without any gold security at all. Several loan files were found to be incomplete, missing critical documents such as goldsmith valuation reports, and contained forged signatures of borrowers.
Further probe revealed that after disbursing the loan amounts, Mallick allegedly diverted the funds to his personal bank account and other accounts, misappropriating the money.
During the investigation, police seized several incriminating items from Mallick, including his mobile phone, passbooks, credit and debit cards from multiple banks, and other credential documents. He has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those related to cheating, forgery, and criminal breach of trust, the release added.