A major fraud has been uncovered at the Bank of Baroda branch located on Gola Road in Samastipur district. The scam involved 72 individuals who deposited fake gold to secure loans amounting to around Rs 1.5 crore. The fraud was carried out with the help of a panel gold examiner appointed by the bank to assess the authenticity of the gold.
The fraud was discovered during a routine review when the gold deposited by the loan holders was re-examined. It was found that the gold provided by these 72 individuals was fake, leading to the disclosure of the scam. Following this revelation, an FIR was filed at the City Police Station based on the statement of Rajiv Kumar Chaudhary, the Assistant General Manager of the bank.
In the FIR, both the panel gold examiner, Amarjeet Shah, and the 72 loan holders have been named as accused. The incident has caused a stir among the individuals who had taken loans using fake gold. In response, a team of senior bank officials has arrived at the branch to conduct an internal investigation into the matter.
Bank officials explained that the bank periodically re-evaluates the gold used as collateral for loans. During a recent examination of gold ornaments deposited under the gold loan scheme for the financial year 2022-23, it was found that the gold provided by 10 individuals was fake. This led to a further investigation, revealing that the gold of 72 loan holders was also fake.
The Bank of Baroda offers loans of up to 75% of the value of the gold deposited under its Gold Loan Scheme. Amarjeet Shah, a gold trader from Shambhu Patti in the Mufassil police station area, was appointed as the gold examiner for the bank. It is believed that the loan holders, in collaboration with Shah, presented fake gold as genuine, which was then approved for loans. Most of these loans were between one to two lakh rupees.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sanjay Pandey confirmed that an FIR has been registered at the City Police Station, naming the bank’s panel gold examiner and the 72 loan holders as accused. He added that the police are investigating the case and that arrests will be made soon. Authorities are also looking into whether any bank employees were involved in the scam. If any such involvement is found, action will be taken against them as well.
