An alleged ₹7.31 crore fraud involving theft of ornaments from gold loan accounts and their replacement with fake jewellery has been exposed at a Canara Bank branch in Maharashtra's Jalna district.
Two persons have been arrested in connection with the scam and a case has been registered against the nationalised bank's Badnapur branch manager, another officer and a gold appraiser.
The irregularities were detected during a routine quarterly revaluation of gold loan packets kept at the bank, revealing 22 packets containing fake jewellery worth ₹3.79 crore and 30 packets of gold valued at ₹3.52 crore missing from the strong room.
CCTV footage analysis showed a bank officer allegedly stealing gold packets from the strong room and concealing them, while the branch manager is accused of violating security protocols by allowing the officer access to the strong room alone.
A gold appraiser is also accused of certifying fake gold as genuine, facilitating the fraud.
The Badnapur police have registered a case against the three accused on charges of criminal breach of trust, fraud and negligence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
