Private gold loan firm employee held for fraud

Tirupati: Police arrested one Santha Kumar and recovered 1.013 kg gold and a cash of Rs 1 lakh which he stole from the private gold loan company KLM AXIVA FINVEST in which he was working as assistant manager in the city. The private gold loan company set up its branch on Tirumala bypass road in Korlagunta area in the city on September 13. Briefing media about the details of the case, Tirupati SP P Parameswara Reddy said that Santha Kumar, who was working as assistant manager, used the gold pledged by the needy for availing loan from the company, for his personal benefits. He took away the pledged gold and used them to avail gold loans from banks and private finance institutions and gave loans against gold to his wife and relatives, violating company rules.

In a planned move, he kept the second key of safe room (locker) with him and did not send it to the company head office despite repeated reminders, SP said informing that normal practice was one key of the safe room will be kept with the manager and the another one with the company head office to ensure the safety of gold pledged for loan, which will be kept in the locker. The company management which noticed the irregularities of manager of new branch, informed him they are sending a senior official Eswar for inspection of the branch and also auditing the accounts on October 31, SP said adding that a day before the arrival of the company official for inspection, accused Santha Kumar went to the office in the morning before the office hour and took the gold in the locker and the papers of 36 gold loan accounts and disappeared on October 30. Following the complaint, East Police after registering a case, took up investigation and also kept a watch on the house of Santha Kumar, where his wife and children reside in the city, leading to his arrest on Saturday.

The SP said the accused arrived in the city to take his family to a place in Tamil Nadu where he wants to settle with the stolen gold and cash. The intense questioning that followed his arrest resulted in the recovery of 1.03 kg gold and cash Rs 1 lakh from him. The SP appealed to public to be aware of gold loan companies mushrooming without any credibility. He appreciated East Police CI BV Siva Prasad Reddy for cracking the case within a short time and being able to recover most of the stolen gold.