Odisha: 7 Arrested For Duping Bank Of Baroda Of Rs 52 Lakh By Pledging Counterfeit Gold

Sonepur: Seven persons, including a goldsmith, have been arrested for allegedly duping Bank of Baroda of Rs 52 lakh by pledging counterfeit gold ornaments, Sonepur SP Amaresh Kumar Panda told a presser on Tuesday.

The accused have been identified as Ishwar Saraf, his son Surendra Saraf, Anjan Sa, Hajaru Sahu, Doctor Seth, Ramchandra Bania and Jayanarayan Maharana. They were nabbed on the basis of a complaint filed by a senior manager of the bank.

The SP further informed 65 fake gold loans amounting to Rs 52,83,100 were availed by 11 fraudsters between 2019 and 2021 and seven among them have been arrested. “The accused goldsmith arranged a fake certificate for the fraudsters based on which the loan was approved,” he said.

Ishwar Saraf had previously defrauded Sonepur UCO Bank of Rs 19 lakh by depositing fake gold, he further said.

Police are also probing involvement of any bank officials in the fraud, the SP added.