Bhubaneswar: Acting on a tip-off, the economic offences wing (EOW) of the state crime branch on Wednesday arrested a gold appraiser of a leading public sector bank for allegedly misappropriating Rs 5.21 crore by fraudulently sanctioning and disbursing 105 loans without proper documentation and using fake ornaments as collateral.“Accused Prashanta Kumar Mallick, who served as a senior associate-cum-cash in charge at the bank’s Balichandrapur branch in Jajpur district, had been absconding since July 14, 2025, after his illegal action came to fore. We arrested him in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. Many incriminating documents, mobile phone, pass books and credit/debit cards of different banks have been seized,” an EOW officer said.According to a complaint lodged by the bank on Feb 10, Mallick — posted at the branch since June 1, 2022 — allegedly manipulated gold loan accounts between Oct 2024 and July 2025, with the fraud amounting to a total of Rs 5,21,42,000.“Of the 105 gold loan accounts, 31 were backed by fake ornaments, while 74 were sanctioned without any collateral. We found missing documents, forged borrower signatures and absent goldsmith valuation reports,” the EOW officer said.The bank stumbled upon the fraud on July 14, 2025, during a routine inspection by a senior official. “During the bank’s inspection, Mallick failed to produce loan files and absconded without notice. This prompted the bank to conduct an immediate audit and subsequent internal investigation,” the EOW officer said.Mallick was entrusted with appraising ornaments, verifying documentation, recommending loans and maintaining custody of pledged gold. “However, none of the mandatory procedures — such as verification by empanelled goldsmiths and execution of pledge documents — were followed,” the bank’s complaint said.The EOW investigations revealed that Mallick reportedly siphoned off the loan amounts by diverting funds into his personal and intermediary accounts. Even during his mandatory leave from Nov 27, 2024 to Dec 7, 2024, he illegally accessed the bank’s core banking system using another official’s credentials to process two fraudulent loans.The EOW is also probing the possible involvement of other staff, including a former service manager who shared joint custody of pledged gold with Mallick.
