64-year-old woman arrested in Rs 39 lakh fake gold loan fraud in Borivali | Representational Image
Mumbai: The Malad police have arrested a 64-year-old gold valuer for defrauding a Borivali-based bank of around Rs 39 lakh by pledging fake gold as collateral.
Savio Montero, a manager at Model Co-operative Bank, told the police that the bank had introduced a gold mortgage scheme for its customers, for which the accused Sapna Nayankumar Bhat was appointed as the gold valuer. Her responsibilities included certifying gold quality, weighing the gold, determining its price, and assessing the loan amount to be disbursed against the pledged gold.
Between April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2022, six account holders applied for gold mortgage loans under the scheme. Between August 10 and November 18, 2021, Bhat assessed the pledged gold and approved it as genuine, leading the bank to disburse loans totalling Rs 39 lakh to five account holders.
The fraud came to light after the borrowers defaulted on their loan repayments. Despite repeated notices from the bank, no response was received from the defaulters. Consequently, the bank initiated the auction process for the pledged gold to recover the loan amount. However, when the jewellery was re-evaluated by jewellers on the bank’s panel, it was discovered that all the pledged ornaments were fake.
Bhat had certified the jewellery as genuine, enabling the account holders to obtain the loans fraudulently.
Based on the complaint, a case of embezzlement and fraud was registered against her and the five account holders in March 2024. Sapna, who was listed as a wanted accused in the case, was finally apprehended by the police last week.
Five account holders were co-accused along with her in these crimes. It includes five account holders namely Shami Anil Khatri, Jayanendra Jadhav, Rafat Shami Khatri, Yash Jai Parekh and Parekh Jalpaben Yash. However, the police have not arrested them yet.
Serial offender
Bhat, a serial offender with a history of fraudulent activities, has committed similar crimes while working as a gold valuer for various banks. She has reportedly similarly defrauded several other banks, with cases registered against her at police stations in Kandivali, Oshiwara, Malad, Bangurnagar, Goregaon, and other areas. In the past, she was also arrested for similar offences.
