As gold loan companies ask for only identity and address proof to sanction loan up to 70% of total value of the ornaments, City's jewel thieves now mortgage them instead of selling them off; usually, they don't even return to collect the jewellery.
Interrogating a gang of burglars arrested for conducting a series of robberies in the area, officials of Bibwewadi police station stumbled upon a unique modus operandi used by robbers to dispose stolen booty, and make money out of it at the same time.
The golden opportunity!u00a0A circular from RBI states that there’s no obligations on the part of gold loan companies to check original receipts of purchase before granting the loan Representation Pic
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The gang members (Suraj Kamble (20), Avinash Zore (19), Vishwas Chandanshive (21), and Suraj Nalawade (23) - who were involved in 10 cases of housebreaking, and from whom cops recovered gold ornaments worth over Rs 25 lakh – told officials that burglars now mortgage stolen booty with non-banking financial institutions and gold loan firms.
Mad rush: Gold loan companies only for only identity and address proof and give loan up to 70 per cent of total value of the ornaments. Most of the times, the thieves do not return to take the ornaments. Represention Pic
“During interrogations, the suspects spilled the beans and told us that they used to pawn the stolen gold in non-banking financial institutions and gold loan firms and take money in form of loans,” said Shailesh Shinde, senior PI of Bibwewadi police station.
As gold loan companies ask for only identity and address proof and give loan up to 70 per cent on total value of the ornaments, the thieves now mortgage gold jewelleries instead of selling them off. Most of the times, they don’t even return to take the jewellery.
“They revealed the names of financial firms where they had kept the stolen gold and seized the jewellery. Besides, we even reprimanded the officials present there for granting loans without checking the receipts of the gold ornaments,” said Shinde.
“We were shocked to see a circular from RBI that stated there’s no obligations on the part of these firms to check the original receipts of gold purchase before granting the loan,” Shinde said.
u00a0A police officer from the crime branch said that they have issued notices to these firms asking them to be cautious and alert while granting loan to such people.
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