Bank gold appraiser, aides cheat businessman of Rs 1.5 cr over auctioned gold

The police believe the appraiser received Rs 2.5 lakh for every loan of Rs 10 lakh sanctioned as his share of the proceeds.

The fraud came to light after the accused attempted another scam. According to the police, Nagesh approached the businessman through a common acquaintance, claiming he could arrange bank-auctioned gold at Rs 9,000 per gram and assuring him that it could later be sold for Rs 13,000 per gram.

Believing the offer, the businessman allegedly transferred Rs 1.53 crore to Nagesh between July 23 and 28. The accused used part of the money to repay the fraudulent gold loans in an apparent attempt to avoid detection. However, they failed to deliver the promised gold and went into hiding.

After the businessman lodged a complaint on July 28, the police arrested Nagesh and Shashidhar at their hideout in Karwar.

“During the interrogation of the arrested accused, the involvement of the bank appraiser came to light. He has also been arrested, and we are verifying the extent of his role and the total amount involved in the fraud. The three accused knew each other. We are examining whether they were involved in any similar offences,” a police officer said.

The police said they are tracing the money trail and investigating whether more people were involved in the conspiracy.