Mumbai, October 12: Mumbai Police arrested a man in connection with a fake gold scam. The accused, identified as Vikrant Ramesh Rathod, was arrested by the Bangur Nagar police one year after he defrauded a bank of Rs 1.38 crore by providing fake gold. A case has been registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to the report by Free Press Journal, the scam occurred at the Marve Road branch of the Bank of India in Malad's Mith Chowki. The bank introduced several loan schemes for its account holders in July 2021, including the gold loan facility. The report said Sapna Bhatt, the proprietor of Bahuchar Enterprises, was designated by the bank to verify the purity of gold for the gold mortgage scheme. After the verification of their gold, account holders who require loans against their gold are eligible to receive them. New Online Gold Trading Scam: Cyber Fraudsters Duping People by Making Them Invest in Fake Gold Trading Websites, Money Trail of Rs 3,000 Crores Traced by Uttarakhand Authorities; Know Modus Operandi of Digital Thugs.

Sapna Bhatt verified the authenticity of the gold and issued a certificate to the bank. Based on her certificates, the bank extended a loan of Rs 1.38 crore to fourteen account holders. However, it was later discovered that some account holders had presented fake gold.

The police have filed an FIR against Alifia Vikrant Rathod, Yash Jagdishbhai Parekh, Rahul Krishnakumar Agarwal, Devyani Krishnakumar Agarwal, Gautam Channa Rathod, Vikrant R Rathod, Hitendrabhai Rajgaur, Reena Kamlesh Pritroda, Rajmati Bhavnath Yadav, Arun Dattatraya Lad, Dilip Dhan Singh Thakur, Sagar Hitendrabhai Rajgaur, Mahesh S. Rana, Meena Mahesh Rana, and Sapna Kumar Bhatt, the report said. Hotel Booking Scam in Mumbai: IT Firm's Consultant Director Duped of Rs 4 Lakh While Trying to Book Room in Five-Star Hotel Online.

Vikrant, who had been evading law enforcement for the past year in connection with the fake gold scam, was finally apprehended by the police on Friday. Some of the accused in these crimes have already been arrested, and efforts to locate the remaining fugitives are ongoing.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 12, 2023 04:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).