In a shocking gold theft case, three individuals, including two finance business managers, have been arrested by the Property Cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch. The accused are alleged to have stolen 29 kg of gold, worth a staggering Rs 21 crore, that was stored in a bank locker. They then used the proceeds to invest in the stock market, leading to their downfall when an audit uncovered the fraud.
The arrested suspects have been identified as Shivkumar Iyer (30), Shivaji Patil (29), and Sachin Salunke (41). They face charges under IPC sections 408 (criminal breach of trust by an employee), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant or banker), 506 (criminal intimidation), 506(2) (criminal intimidation involving a threat to kill), 420 (cheating), and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
The theft came to light when Akash Pachlo, an official at Rover Finance Limited, reported the missing gold. Rover Finance had taken over the loan department of Trillion Loan Fintech Private in 2024. During a routine audit in April, it was discovered that 260 packets, containing a total of 29 kg of gold ornaments mortgaged by various clients, were missing from the bank locker. The keys to the locker were in the possession of branch manager Shivaji Patil and area manager Shivkumar Iyer.
Initially, both managers denied knowledge of the missing gold. However, after further questioning, Iyer admitted that he and Patil had used the stolen gold as collateral to secure loans and invested the funds in the stock market. Iyer also confessed that the gold was deposited in the names of his relatives and friends at ICICI Bank, and the loans were taken against it.
The proceeds from the gold were shared between Iyer and Patil, with Iyer reportedly receiving Rs 8.75 crore. Of this, he gave Rs 40 lakh to Patil. Unfortunately, Iyer confessed that his stock market investments had resulted in losses, compounding the crime.
The fraud was exposed when Iyer threatened the complainant, Akash Pachlo, with underworld connections. On June 4, when Pachlo confronted Iyer at the Andheri office and demanded the return of the stolen gold, Iyer allegedly made threats against him, escalating the situation. Following this, the company filed a complaint with the Sakinaka police, and the investigation led to the arrest of the three men.
