Gold Loan Fraud of Rs.1.65 crore in Bank: Female Officer Fired

An assistant manager at the Rajim branch of Indian Overseas Bank was arrested for stealing more than Rs 1 crore through the issuance of fraudulent jewelry loans. Ankita Panigrahi, the accused, was apprehended from Bargarh, Odisha, by the State Economic Offenses Investigation Bureau (EOW). The police started questioning her and pursuing additional legal action after the arrest.

Ankita Panigrahi was employed in 2022 as an Assistant Manager at Indian Overseas Bank's Rajim branch in the Gariaband district. She created fictitious jewelry loan records there by abusing locked bank accounts. She was able to take out Rs 1 crore 65 lakh from the bank in fraud by doing this.

When this fraud was discovered, the bank fired her right away. The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) then formally filed a case against her in 2023. The case was brought under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code, which addresses criminal breach of trust by a public worker, and Section 13(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018).

For a long time, Ankita had been absconding (hiding from the authorities), but the EOW finally tracked her down in Bargarh, Odisha. She was taken into police custody (remand) so that officials could question her thoroughly about the fraud. The EOW is now conducting a detailed investigation to uncover the full extent of the scam and to check whether other people were involved.

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Gold Loan Fraud of Rs. 1.24 crore in PSU Bank

A significant gold loan fraud case was recently discovered at the Bank of India. In the Bank of India branch in Saraidhela, 28 individuals turned in 3.5 kg of phony gold in exchange for a Rs. 1.24 crore bank loan. A police report has been made against the business correspondent, gold valuer, and borrowers who were complicit in this fraud.

The accounts turned non-performing and the gold secured by the loan was revalued, which is when the issue was discovered. The fact that the gold being held in safe custody was counterfeit stunned the branch officers. Vishwa Pratap Singh, the senior branch manager, filed a police report at the Saraidhela station.

From January 2022 to January 2023, loans were made secured by counterfeit jewelry. Loan accounts quickly became non-performing assets (NPAs) due to non-payment by borrowers. The bank sent notifications to the loan holders to collect the unpaid balance in response to the circumstances. The loan holders received notice that if the installments were not deposited, their jewels would be put up for auction. When the loan holders ignored the notices, though, bank officials were taken aback.

In order to open the sealed packages containing the mortgaged valuables, a committee was established. The jewelry was reassessed and a video was completed. Reassessment revealed that the jewelry was, in fact, phony.

In March, the Reserve Bank of India had asked banks to share with it information on frauds reported in gold loans, actions taken by them to recover the money and defaults in the portfolio.

The RBI also asked banks to review their lending processes to check if they are in compliance with the regulator’s gold loan guidelines. The RBI sought this information after it found that employees of two state-run banks manipulated its system to meet gold loan targets.

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