Manappuram Finance lodges complaint against manager who exchanged gold with fake jewellery

Manappuram Finance has filed a case against its Ghatkopar branch manager for replacing pawned gold with imitation jewellery; suspect believed to have left the city.

MUMBAI: Manappuram Finance Limited, a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), has registered a case against its Ghatkopar branch manager after the gold pawned in the branch was replaced with imitation jewellery. The police said the NBFC suspects the role of its branch manager as he had made sure he was not captured in the camera and left the city on a train knowing that he could be frisked at the airport.

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According to the Ghatkopar police, a case has been registered by Pumppana Rathod, one of the regional heads of the company, against the accused, Tamata Suryanarayan.

Rathod told the police that every gold ornament pawned with them is sealed in an envelope with the signatures of two staffers, including the branch head and his assistant. It is kept in a locker that also has two keys. If any staffer goes on leave, he has to keep the keys with other senior staff.

“We suspect when the assistant went on leave on November 3, her key was with another staffer, Suryanarayan took the key from her and opened the locker. He even asked for an inventory report from the auditor claiming that he was leaving for his village,” said the police officer.

The customer had taken a loan of ₹7.55 lakhs from the NBFC. “They came to know during an internal audit that the weight of the packet was less by 10 grams. Later, they learnt that the original packet was tampered with, and it was stuck with fevikwik now,” said the police officer.

“Suryanarayan left for his village in Andhra Pradesh on a train as he was aware of frisking at the airport. He was aware of the camera coverage and knew that two lockers were not completely covered, nobody has access to keys nor is the locker broken, the keys are only with two persons, so they suspect his role.” added the officer.

A case has been registered under section 409(criminal breach of trust by a public servant or by banker, merchant, or agent) of the Indian Penal Code.