Surat: A branch manager of a gold loan finance company in Puna has lodged a complaint against a borrower, alleging that he duped the firm of Rs 22.39 lakh after promising to transfer his existing gold loans to the company’s branch.According to the FIR registered at Puna police station on Sep 5, accused Ashok Madanka approached Paras Agrawat, branch manager of Muthoot Money Ltd, on July 6. The accused allegedly told the manager that he had two gold loans with Muthoot FinCorp totalling Rs 22.39 lakh and wanted to transfer them due to the 12.99% interest rate.Following this, company officials processed his loan application and sanctioned the amount at an interest rate of 11.90%.On July 22, Rs 22.39 lakh was reportedly transferred through RTGS from the company’s SBI account to Madanka’s IndusInd Bank account to facilitate repayment of his existing loans.Agrawat and a colleague then allegedly accompanied Madanka to the Muthoot FinCorp branch in Sarthana to complete the repayment process and collect the pledged gold. Madanka reportedly entered the branch, telling the officials that he would complete the formalities and return with the gold.However, he failed to return even after several hours. When the company officials contacted the branch, they were informed that Madanka had not completed the repayment transaction. A subsequent check of his bank account revealed that he had withdrawn the Rs 22.39 lakh transferred by the company.The complainant further alleged that officials visited Madanka’s residential address but could not locate him.Puna police have registered a case under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and have initiated an investigation into the alleged fraud.
