BERHAMPUR: Baliguda police in Kandhamal district on Saturday arrested a goldsmith for allegedly defrauding a bank of over Rs 85 lakh by pledging fake gold ornaments.
Police said the accused, P Satyaram Achari (54), owns a jewellery shop in Baliguda and was empanelled as a goldsmith by the local branch of UCO Bank for more than five years.
His duty was to examine and certify the genuineness of gold ornaments pledged by customers before loans were sanctioned. However, he later reportedly exploited this trust by substituting fake jewellery for genuine ornaments.
Last year, Achari allegedly mortgaged 14 ornaments in the names of three of his employees, without their knowledge, and availed loans worth Rs 85.86 lakh. The ornaments deposited in the bank were later found to be fake. In May, UCO Bank branch manager Manas Ranjan Nayak detected the irregularities while reviewing gold loan records and discovered that the three employees, shown as borrowers, had defaulted on repayment. When questioned, they denied having taken any loan or mortgaged any ornament. Suspecting foul play, Nayak had the pledged jewellery examined by another goldsmith, who confirmed it to be fake.
Subsequently, Nayak lodged a complaint with Baliguda police on May 21. A case was registered, and Achari went into hiding. Acting on a tip-off, police traced the accused to Berhampur and arrested him on Saturday, said Baliguda SDPO Ramendra Prasad.
Police have seized Achari’s bank passbook which reportedly shows no balance. Preliminary investigation also revealed that he had borrowed large sums of money from several persons in Baliguda.