A jeweller-cum-bank empanelled appraiser in Balangir was arrested for his alleged involvement in a gold loan fraud.
According to reports, 14 persons, including the arrested jeweller, Abhimanya Mohapatra, had availed gold loan to the tune of Rs 44 lakh from Kusanga branch of the State Bank of India under Balangir Sadar police limits by mortgaging fake gold to the bank.
Mohapatra, who is an empanelled appraiser of the bank, had certified the gold to be genuine.
The fraud was detected by the bank during the audit this month. Following the detection of the fraud, bank authorities informed the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch. On EOW directions, the Balangir Sadar police swung into action and arrested Mohapatra after registering a case against all the 14.
“We have arrested Abhimanyu Mohapatra who had certified the pledged metal to be gold. He too is a loanee and has taken a loan of `3 lakh by mortgaging gold. We seized all documents and have forwarded Mohapatra to court. Efforts are on to arrest the others,” informed Balangir Sadar police station IIC Ananda Chandra Majhi.