Malad: Gold valuer arrested for duping a bank, remanded to police custody

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Police in Malad have arrested a gold valuer who allegedly duped a Malad-based cooperative bank by providing certificates to low-value gold, the owners of which obtained loans of lakhs of rupees from the bank, and defaulted.

The accused has been identified as Sapna Bhatt. She was produced before the court on Monday and was remanded to police custody.

Bhatt was appointed as a gold value establishing officer by the bank and was responsible to check the jewelry deposited in the bank by the customers for gold loan.

Also read: Mumbai Crime: Couple held for taking Rs 15L loan against low-quality gold

Between 2019 and 2021, seven customers have taken gold loans of Rs 53 lakh from the bank and have failed to repay the amounts.

The case of forgery came to fore after the bank approached the customers to pay the instalments. When they failed to do so, the bank decided to sell the mortgaged jewellery of the customers.

However, before the auctioning of the gold, it is given to another gold valuer for inspection. "The valuer reported that the gold deposited in the bank was fake or of low value."

The police have so far arrested a married couple who had taken a loan of Rs 14.76 lakh, against low-quality gold, from the bank.