Bank duped of Rs 19 lakh by two employees, goldsmith

BALLARI: Two employees and a goldsmith duped the Axis Bank branch at Siraguppa in the district of Rs 19 lakh after pledging fake gold. An FIR has been filed against the three at the Siraguppa police station.

The FIR names the former head of the gold loan section, Karthik, Srinivas Byagwati and goldsmith Raman Gowda. The bank employees were transferred last year and the deceit has come to light only now.

The accused had reportedly pledged 339 gm of fake gold in the name of Hemavathi and had taken Rs 10.35 lakh as loan. In another instance, they had closed the loan account of one Yasin and taken away 42 gm of gold which he had pledged. The missing gold was discovered when he came to the bank to close the loan account.

In yet another case, a gold ring pledged by one Basavaraj, weighing 8.2 gm was also missing from the bank. The frauds came to light during audit after which a complaint was filed with the police.