Police suspect internal involvement in the 23 crore gold loan fraud at ICICI Bank, where fake gold ornaments were allegedly pledged to obtain loans. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has launched a detailed probe, with a bank official now under scrutiny.
Investigators believe the scam was carefully planned, involving collusion between bank staff and external accused. Around 152 account holders allegedly secured loans by mortgaging counterfeit gold jewellery, aided by valuers and auditors. The EOW has named all 152 account holders as accused, along with valuer Nandu Kharwade and auditors Rajendra Shilankar, Pramod Tete, Dhananjay Dhomne, and Pankaj Kekatpure.
The fraud came to light during an internal audit of a gold loan account, where fake ornaments were detected. A broader review across branches later revealed that loans had been sanctioned against counterfeit gold in 152 cases spanning nine branches.
Police sources said the accused may have been running the racket for a long time, with some having prior cheating cases registered against them. Investigators also believe such a large-scale fraud would not have been possible without the involvement or negligence of bank officials, a view supported by the EOW’s preliminary findings.
The latest case reportedly emerged from an account at the Manish Nagar branch. Sources added that an official from the same branch had earlier come under suspicion in a similar fraud case registered at Beltarodi Police Station about a month ago.
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