Bhubaneswar, May 27: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha arrested two SBI bank officials in connection with a major gold loan fraud amounting to Rs 5.21 crore.
The EOW arrested two SBI officials, Chandan Kumar Mahala and Debendra Niranjan Sahu, in connection with a fake gold loan fraud worth Rs. 5.21 crore at SBI’s Balichandrapur Branch in Jajpur.
Investigation revealed that 105 gold loans were fraudulently sanctioned during 2024-25 using spurious/fake gold ornaments, with several loans issued without any gold or proper documentation. Earlier, EOW had arrested gold appraiser Prashanta Kumar Mallick in the same case.
According to EOW, the case was registered on a written complaint of Peeyus Ranjan Swain, Regional Manager, State Bank of India, Jagatsinghpur. It was alleged that from October 2024 to July 2025, Prashanta Kumar Mallick, Gold Appraiser of SBI, Balichandrapur Branch, Jajpur in conspiracy with others misappropriated public money to the tune of Rs 5,21,42,000/- by recommending/ sanctioning/disbursing 105 gold loans without any proper documentation and by mortgaging spurious/fake gold ornaments.
Chandan Kumar Mahala, who is presently posted as Chief Manager, Administrative Office of SBI in Bhubaneswar, was the Chief Manager of Balichandrapur Branch of SBI and Debendra Niranjan Sahu, was working as Senior Associate-cum-Cash In-charge at SBI, Balichandrapur Branch, Jajpur during the alleged period 2024-2025.
Out of the 105 gold loans sanctioned in a fraudulent manner, Mahala, the then Chief Manager had sanctioned 87 gold loans amounting to Rs 4.38 Crores and Debendra Niranjan Sahu, the then Dy. Manager had sanctioned 16 gold loans amounting to Rs 73.85 lakhs
The accused bank officials did not verify the mortgaged gold ornaments with the help of gold valuers empaneled by the bank to test the purity, ensuring of eligibility, compliance with required documents.
Many incriminating documents like mobile phone, pass books and credit/debit cards of different banks have been collected/seized during investigation.
