Shimla, April 08: A major fraud of approximately Rs 20 lakh has been uncovered in Shimla, where Axis Bank was duped into approving a gold loan by pledging fake gold. The scheme involved a collusion between two individuals and a jewellery appraiser, who falsely certified fake jewellery as genuine. The fraud came to light after a detailed investigation revealed that the jewellery pledged was entirely fake, with zero actual gold content.
The incident occurred at the Axis Bank branch on Mall Road, Shimla, where the accused individuals had applied for loans at different times, pledging jewellery that appeared real but was in fact made from other metals coated with gold. The most shocking aspect of the case was the role of the jewellery valuer, who failed to properly test the items and certified them as real gold. Based on this misleading certification, the bank approved a gold loan of over Rs 20 lakh.
The police have registered a case under sections 420 (fraud) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused: Basant Lal, Inder Jasta, and the jewellery appraiser. The bank management has confirmed that the total loss due to this fraud, including the principal amount and the interest charged, amounts to Rs 20,04,400.
Ashish Parmar, the Branch Operation Manager at Axis Bank’s Mall Road branch, filed a complaint with Shimla’s Sadar police station, which has now taken charge of the investigation. Authorities are now probing the matter in depth, questioning all accused parties, and are looking into the possibility that this fraud could be part of a larger, organized network targeting multiple banks.
This fraud adds to a series of similar incidents in Shimla, as earlier this year, two major banks were defrauded of around Rs 59 lakh in a similar fake gold scheme. With these cases highlighting the ongoing vulnerability in the banking system, there is growing concern about the need for more stringent scrutiny and transparency in the gold evaluation process for loans. The investigation is expected to uncover more details as it progresses.
