Ghaziabad: 18 booked for using fake gold to obtain ₹1.46cr in loans

A bank branch in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar District Centre has filed a police complaint alleging that customers obtained gold loans worth ₹1

A bank branch in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar District Centre has filed a police complaint alleging that customers obtained gold loans worth ₹1.46 crore by pledging fake ornaments, police said on Wednesday. An FIR naming 18 people was registered at Kavi Nagar police station on September 22.

The alleged fraud came to light in June, when two people approached the branch for a gold loan. (Representational image)

The alleged fraud came to light in June, when two people approached the branch for a gold loan. Officials of a finance company assisted them, and an official of the bank’s empanelled valuation agency certified the ornaments as genuine, according to the FIR.

A random check by bank officials, however, found the ornaments to be fake. The two people fled the branch before police arrived, the FIR said.

The bank then examined other pledged ornaments with the help of an independent valuer and found more that were allegedly fake. In its complaint, the bank listed 18 loan accounts in which it said fake ornaments had been pledged as security. It also said a significant number of the suspect accounts had been sourced or referred by two finance company officials.

“The list of suspects includes officials of a finance company that assists bank customers with loans, officials of an empanelled gold valuation agency, and customers who obtained gold loans by producing fake gold items,” Abhay Rajendra Daga, assistant commissioner of police, Kavi Nagar, told HT.

The FIR, filed on the branch manager’s complaint, invokes Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions relating to cheating, forgery, using a forged document or electronic record, and criminal conspiracy. Daga said investigators would examine the roles of the borrowers and the officials of both companies.