Attempt to procure bank loan mortgaging fake gold foiled

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The Cidco police have arrested a plastic trader on charge of trying to procure a bank loan of Rs 14 lakh against keeping fake gold ornaments (16.6 tolas of 22-carat) with hallmark as collateral. The police arrested Nausin Malik Babu Khan (of Beri Baugh), when produced in the court, he was remanded to four days of police custody on Tuesday.

The accused, Nausin, originally from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, is a plastic trader who has been living in the city for a few years for business purposes. On October 6, around 2 pm, he visited the SBI bank in Jadhavwadi. He presented 22-carat jewellery with hologram markings, consisting of 11 bangles weighing 118.4 grams and 2 gold chains weighing 42.2 grams, totaling 16.6 tolas, as collateral to request a ₹14 lakh loan. The bank manager called their regular gold valuer, Ganesh Baviskar, to assess the jewellery. Baviskar examined the jewellery on the spot using standard chemical procedures. When the surface layer began to wear off, he grew suspicious.

Copper turned green with nitric acid

To confirm, Baviskar applied nitric acid to the jewellery. The chemical reaction exposed the base metal as copper, and the jewellery turned green. This exposed Nausin’s fraud. Initially, he tried to dodge questions, but the bank immediately took him to the Cidco police station. PSI Anil Nanekar arrested Nausin and produced him in court on Tuesday. The court remanded him to four days of police custody. Nanekar said that investigations are ongoing to determine whether he has attempted similar frauds at other private banks or finance companies.