Chennai: Assistant manager of IOB arrested for stealing pledged gold, replacing it with fake jewellery

CHENNAI: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Chennai police has arrested an assistant manager of Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Ayanavaram branch, for allegedly stealing around 2,179 grams of gold jewellery pledged by customers and replacing it with fake jewellery.

The accused, identified as Podnuru Murali Krishna, 34, originally from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and residing in Purasawalkam, allegedly caused a loss of around Rs 3.09 crore to the bank.

According to the police, IOB Ayanavaram branch manager Dinesh Kumar lodged a complaint with the Chennai Police Commissioner on August 13, alleging that Murali Krishna had stolen gold jewellery pledged by customers and replaced it with counterfeit ornaments.

Based on the complaint, the CCB’s Bank Fraud Investigation Wing registered a case and launched an investigation.

The probe revealed that Murali Krishna had allegedly taken gold jewellery pledged by around 21 customers without the bank’s knowledge. He allegedly pledged the jewellery elsewhere and used the money for online gaming and personal expenses.

He subsequently replaced the customers’ original jewellery with fake ornaments at the bank, causing the institution an estimated loss of Rs 3.09 crore, police said.

A police team from the Bank Fraud Investigation Wing arrested Murali Krishna on August 19. He was produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody.

The police said further investigation is under way and steps are being taken through legal channels to recover the gold jewellery allegedly pledged by the accused elsewhere.