The Odisha Police’s Economic Offences Wing has apprehended a bank employee, Prashanta Kumar Mallick, who was under suspension, for allegedly embezzling public funds amounting to Rs 5.21 crore. Mallick, serving as Senior Associate-cum-Cash In-charge and a gold appraiser at the State Bank of India’s Balichandrapur branch in Jagatsinghpur district, was arrested in connection with a case filed on February 10, 2026, following a complaint by SBI Regional Manager Peeyus Ranjan Swain.
Swain’s complaint accused Mallick of misappropriating the funds between October 2024 and July 2025 by approving and disbursing 105 gold loans without proper documentation or genuine gold ornaments. Mallick’s responsibilities included assessing and validating gold ornaments with a goldsmith, ensuring compliance with necessary documents, recommending gold loans, and safeguarding loan documents and pledged gold ornaments jointly with the Service Manager.
During an inspection by SBI Chief Manager Manorama Rout in 2025, Mallick failed to produce files related to the sanctioned gold loans and subsequently went missing without notice. A subsequent audit and internal investigation revealed that Mallick had fraudulently processed 105 gold loan accounts, with 31 involving fake gold ornaments and 74 approved without any gold ornaments. Missing loan documents, forged borrower signatures, and diversion of funds to personal accounts were also uncovered.
After a thorough probe, the EOW officials arrested Mallick in Bhubaneswar on April 21, and he was presented before the court the next day, which remanded him to judicial custody.
