Hisar: In a significant development, the Narnaund police have launched an investigation into a scam involving gold loans taken against fake jewelry at the State Bank of India (SBI) in the city. This action comes after the bank manager, Rajiv Ranjan, filed a complaint on court orders. According to Ranjan, an audit conducted on July 21, 2023, revealed that the jewelry mortgaged for these loans was fake. Despite a complaint made to the Superintendent of Police on August 16, 2023, no concrete action was initially taken, prompting the bank to seek judicial intervention. The police have now registered six separate cases related to this fraud, although no arrests have been made yet.
Details of the Fraud
Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, the branch manager of SBI, stated that he has been serving in his position since July 11, 2022. Ankit, a resident of Budana, was appointed to the bank’s panel in 2021 to verify the purity of gold for the gold loan scheme. On July 13, 2022, Ajmer from Budana applied for a gold loan. Ankit falsely verified the gold ornaments, leading the bank to approve a loan of ₹2,78,000. Later, on November 14, 2022, Ajmer received another gold loan of ₹4,18,000.
In another instance, Ankit Saini from Narnaund secured a loan of ₹9,93,000 by mortgaging fake jewelry, which Ankit had again falsely verified as genuine.
Multiple Cases Uncovered
The scam didn’t stop there. Sandeep from Budana took a gold loan of ₹1,93,000 on August 5, 2022, and another of ₹5,14,000 on September 28, 2022, both with fake jewelry. Kuldeep from Narnaund applied for a gold loan on November 29, 2022, and received ₹4,39,400, followed by ₹6,38,000 on December 14, 2022. Again, the gold ornaments were fake, but Ankit verified them as genuine.
Neha from Nirjan in Jind district applied for a gold loan on May 1, 2023, and was granted ₹8,52,000 based on fake jewelry. Ankit himself applied for a gold loan of ₹69,000 on June 17, 2022, also using fake jewelry.
Financial Implications and Legal Action
The total fraudulent loan amount of approximately ₹33 lakh has been deposited back into the bank by the accused. Following court orders, cases have been registered against Ankit, Ajmer, Ankit Saini, Sandeep, Kuldeep, and Neha. The police are currently investigating the matter to uncover the full extent of the fraud and bring the culprits to justice.
