EOW Nabs SBI Officials in ₹5.21 Crore Gold Loan Scam
Bhubaneswar/Jajpur: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested two State Bank of India officials, Chandan Kumar Mahala and Devendra Niranjan Sahu, for their alleged involvement in a Rs 5.21 crore fake gold loan scam at the Balichandrapur branch in Jajpur district.
Investigations revealed that between October 2024 and July 2025, 105 gold loans were sanctioned using forged documents and fake signatures.
Shockingly, 62 loan accounts had no gold pledged, with funds siphoned off through fraudulent paperwork.
The scam came to light after Jagatsinghpur SBI Regional Manager Piyush Ranjan Swain lodged a complaint.
Earlier, on April 21, 2026, bank gold appraiser Prashant Kumar Mallik was arrested in connection with the same case.
EOW officials stated that forged customer signatures, missing valuation reports, and manipulated loan files were central to the fraud.
The arrests mark a significant step in the ongoing probe into the racket, which has raised serious concerns about internal checks and accountability in banking operations.
