Bengaluru bank official held on charge of stealing customer’s gold for gambling

A deputy manager of a nationalized bank in Bengaluru was arrested for allegedly siphoning off and illegally mortgaging 2,780 grams of customers’ gold ornaments worth over Rs 3.5 crore and pawning them to use in online gambling and betting.

The alleged fraud, which came to light on February 5 after the chief manager of the branch of Indian Bank filed a complaint against the accused at the Girinagar police station, was disclosed by police on Saturday (February 14).

Pledged gold with finance company: Cops

According to police, the accused, identified as 34-year-old Kiran Kumar, removed 2,780 grams of customers’ gold ornaments from the bank lockers without informing the higher authorities and pledged them with a finance company.

"The accused deputy bank manager has been arrested in this case. We are trying to recover the gold. So far, about 700 grams have been recovered," said Lokesh B Jagalasar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South).

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"We are not getting the desired cooperation from the financiers. We will move the court and initiate appropriate legal action against them. Further investigation is underway," he added.

Police also advised customers to verify the safety and status of their ornaments kept in bank lockers.

Misused access to locker keys

According to a report in India Today, Kumar allegedly misused his access to locker keys and when the branch manager was not in office and periodically siphoned off small amounts of pledged gold.

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The report further stated that the theft came to the notice of the bank authorities when customers arrived at the branch to retrieve their pledged gold jewellery. During the locker verification process it was found that gold ornaments were partially missing from 21 packets and completely missing from three.

Kumar was later arrested and during interrogation reportedly confessed of committing the crime.

Earlier incident in Kota

In June, last year, a relationship manager at ICICI Bank’s Kota branch in Rajasthan was arrested for allegedly siphoning off more than Rs 4.58 crore from 41 customers by misusing her access to fixed deposit accounts.

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The accused, identified as Sakshi Gupta, is alleged to have diverted funds between 2020 and 2023 by exploiting the bank’s internal ‘User FD’ link and withdrawing money from 110 accounts without the customers’ knowledge.

Invested stolen amount in stocks

According to investigators, Gupta invested the withdrawn funds in the stock market in an attempt to earn high returns within a short span. However, she allegedly failed to restore the money after suffering substantial losses.

The matter surfaced when a customer approached the branch to inquire about his fixed deposit. The bank subsequently filed a police complaint on February 18.

Investigating officer Ibrahim Khan said Gupta had linked family members’ mobile numbers to certain accounts and created a mechanism to access OTPs, thereby bypassing SMS alerts. She was arrested on June 4 and remanded in judicial custody.

(With agency inputs)