A State Bank of India (SBI) cashier was arrested on Saturday from Vijayawada for allegedly swindling the account holders' money and gold amounting to Rs 80 lakh, police said.
According to the police, Rs 20.75 lakh in cash, 2200 gram gold worth Rs 61 lakh and a car worth Rs 6 lakh were recovered from the possession of G Srinivas Rao, the cashier.
Rao, who works at Paritala branch of SBI, used to handle cash and gold transactions. He was so close to erstwhile branch manager, Yogita, that she let him keep keys of the bank locker which is against the norms, the police said.
According to rules, only the bank manager can keep the locker keys with them.
"Taking advantage of the situation, Rao stole Rs 19 lakh cash kept in the locker. He also stole three bags having gold kept in it from the locker. He stole a piece of gold kept as mortgage and took a loan on it with a fake name," Superintendent of Police Raveendra Baby said.
The accused used many other fraudulent ways to steal customers' money instead of depositing it in their name, the police said.
The matter came to light when a new branch manager who took charge found Rs 19 lakh cash missing from the locker.
G Omprakash, the new manager, lodged a complaint with the police. During the course of the inquiry, the crime was exposed.
( With inputs from ANI )