Police unearth Rs 6.71 crore scam in Central Bank Machilipatnam

Vijayawada: A fake gold scam has rocked the Central Bank Machilipatnam branch in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.

Krishna district police have registered a case and started a probe into Rs 6.71 crore fraud.

Police sources said bank’s gold appraiser M Satya Vara Prasad Rao in connivance with few employees allegedly mortgaged fake gold ornaments to avail loans. The gold appraiser and others had created over 68 accounts to avail the loans by mortgaging fake ornaments in the bank.

The fraud was detected when none of the 68 account holders, who availed the gold loan turned up to clear the outstandings and take back their ornaments.

Inspector of Chilakalapudi Police Station M Venkata Narayana, who is investigating the case, said Satya Vara Prasad Rao duped the bank by mortgaging fake gold ornaments for availing loans. “We are suspecting the role of few bank employees in the scam,” he said.

Police have formed a special team to nab the gold appraiser and his associates.

It may be recalled that a few years back, gold ornaments worth Rs2.9 crore was robbed from the Canara Bank, Machilipatnam in Krishna district. Canara bank’s gold appraiser G Venkata Naga Rama Subramanyam had replaced gold ornaments deposited in the bank with fake ornaments.