THENI: District Crime Branch (DCB) police are on the lookout for the suspended manager of a nationalised bank who swindled Rs 11.64 crore by availing of jewel loans in the name of customers. The fraud came to light during a routine inspection.
According to police, M Karthik of Chinnamanur worked as manager of Canara Bank branches in Odaipatti and Koolayanur from May 29, 2023, to June 2026. While working in Odaipatti from May 29, 2023, to May 20, 2026, he allegedly created forged records for jewel loan in the names of 46 customers.
He selected customers who had not taken jewel loans and whose mobile numbers were not linked to their bank accounts. Once the loan amount is credited to the customers’ accounts, he transferred the money to his account at a private bank. Using this modus operandi, he allegedly swindled around Rs 9.64 crore, police said.
“On May 21, 2026, Karthik joined the Koolayanur branch. He followed the same modus operandi there and swindled Rs 1.99 crore by using the names of 14 customers.” police added.
Unnikrishnan who assumed charge as the new manager of the Odaipatti branch checked accounts and found a jewel packet in the locker without jewels inside. While verifying the customer’s account details, he found out that Karthik had transferred the loan amount to his own account.
Following this, Karthik was suspended. Meanwhile, bank officials lodged a complaint with the DCB police.