Former bank appraiser held for stealing gold ornaments worth ₹1.80 crore; 1.198 kg recovered

Between October 14 and 22, the police recovered a total of 1.198 kg of gold ornaments from jewellery shops in Rajanukunte and Doddaballapur.

The Rajanukunte police arrested a former bank appraiser for allegedly cheating a bank of ₹35.40 lakh by opening gold loan accounts in other people’s names and pledging fake gold ornaments. He also allegedly stole gold ornaments pledged by several customers and mortgaged them at jewellery shops to raise money.

Pavan Kumar, 35, a resident of Rojipura Gate in Doddaballapur, is among the arrested accused. The police have recovered 1.198 kg of gold ornaments, valued at approximately ₹1.80 crore, in connection with the case.

According to the police, the complainant, a regional manager of a bank operating within the Rajanukunte Police Station limits, lodged a complaint on October 9.

The complaint said that the accused, who had worked as an appraiser at the bank, allegedly opened gold loan accounts in the names of other individuals and pledged fake gold ornaments, thereby cheating the bank of ₹35.40 lakh. He also allegedly stole gold ornaments pledged by customers against gold loans and mortgaged them at different locations to raise money.

City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said that the accused had allegedly committed the offence on 20 occasions over the past one year.

“The role of other bank employees was also under investigation, as they may have either deliberately ignored the prescribed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or colluded with the accused. Officials are examining whether the alleged fraud was possible due to negligence or the involvement of other bank staff,” he added.

Following an investigation and gathering information from various sources, the police arrested the accused from his residence near Rojipura Gate in Doddaballapur on October 13. He was produced before a court on the same day and taken into 10 days of police custody for interrogation.

During questioning, the accused reportedly disclosed that he had pledged the stolen gold ornaments at two jewellery shops in Rajanukunte and four jewellery shops in Doddaballapur.

Based on his information, police conducted operations between October 14 and 22 and recovered a total of 1.198 kg of gold ornaments from two jewellery shops in Rajanukunte and two shops in Doddaballapur.

The accused was produced before the court on October 23 and subsequently remanded to judicial custody. Further investigations are underway to establish whether other bank employees were involved in the fraud.