Manager held for siphoning off Rs 1.24 crore in Telangana

HYDERABAD: A manager of a private gold finance company , who was allegedly involved in stealing customers' pledged gold and opening fake gold loan accounts to siphon off Rs 1.24 crore, was arrested by Vikarabad police on Friday.

Police said the prime accused used the illegally earned money in cricket betting.

Police said they received a complaint from the finance company after their internal audit revealed that Rs 2.10 crore worth of gold ornaments went missing.

When they tried to reach the branch manager, Vishal, he was unavailable. After the investigation began, police found out that it was Vishal who was behind the fraud. Three subordinates helped him in this, police said.

Vishal opened fake loan accounts and collected loans by giving the impression that they were given against pledged gold. "During the inspection, he managed the situation by arranging gold ornaments in those accounts," Vikarabad district superintendent of police Narayan Reddy said.

Using the ill-gotten money, Vishal started placing money in online betting. From the accused, police seized Rs 10 lakh in cash and 83 grams of gold.

"We are continuing the investigation against the auditor, vigilance team and organisers of cricket betting as they supported Vishal," the police said.

A similar case was registered by a public sector bank in Khairatabad and the investigation is being done by Hyderabad police.