A major case of internal bank fraud has surfaced in Bengaluru, where an assistant manager at Indian Bank was arrested for allegedly stealing gold ornaments from customer lockers to finance online gambling activities.
The accused, 34-year-old Kiran Kumar, is believed to have misappropriated approximately 2.7 kilograms of gold jewellery. Authorities estimate the value of the stolen assets at nearly Rs4 crore.
The scam was exposed on January 2 after several customers visited the branch to retrieve their pledged jewellery. During routine verification of locker contents, customers noticed discrepancies. A detailed inspection revealed that gold ornaments were partially missing from 21 packets, while three packets were found completely empty.
Alarmed by the findings, customers lodged a formal complaint, triggering a police investigation.
Law enforcement officials moved swiftly and detained Kumar for questioning. During interrogation, he reportedly confessed to siphoning off the gold and selling a portion of it to fund online gambling habits.
So far, authorities have recovered around 1.2 kilograms of gold from various pawn shops where the ornaments had allegedly been sold. Efforts are underway to trace and recover the remaining valuables.
As investigations continue, officials have urged bank customers to periodically verify their locker contents and maintain proper documentation to safeguard their valuables.
The case has raised serious concerns about internal controls and monitoring mechanisms within banking institutions, highlighting the importance of stringent oversight to prevent similar incidents in the future.
