HYDERABAD: A gold loan fraud worth nearly ₹2.5 crore has been uncovered at Citizen Co-operative Society Ltd’s SR Nagar branch after the Central Crime Station’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) registered a case against a former branch manager, a depositor, and 12 alleged accomplices.
According to the complaint by the society’s managing director M. Narendra Kumar, former branch manager R. Chandra Sekhar (44) and long-time depositor L. Naga Visweswara Rao conspired to secure gold loans using spurious jewellery between November 2024 and April 2025.
The duo allegedly sanctioned 39 gold loans worth ₹2.49 crore against fake ornaments. “The strong room at the branch operates on a double-lock system, but the former manager was found to have operated it single-handedly,” the complaint stated.
Police said Visweswara Rao’s 11 relatives and associates opened savings accounts with the co-operative society to pose as borrowers. Gold appraiser M. Srinivas allegedly certified imitation jewellery without conducting mandatory purity checks. Loan proceeds were credited to the accounts of Rao and his associates and later siphoned off.
The fraud came to light on April 23, 2025, when the new branch manager V. Krishna Mohan discovered nine missing gold-loan bags and 38 others containing fake ornaments during a routine stock inspection.
Following an internal probe, chief general manager P.V. Subbayya Chowdary issued a charge sheet to Chandra Sekhar on June 5. As he failed to respond, he was placed under suspension.
Based on the findings, the EOW registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including cheating, forgery, and criminal breach of trust.
A senior CCS officer said the accused repeatedly pledged one set of genuine ornaments and later replaced them with imitation jewellery. “They used the same set to obtain multiple gold loans. Efforts are on to trace and arrest the accused,” the officer added.
