Mangaluru: In a case of pledging fake gold ornaments and raising loan from a bank, a couple has been arrested in the city.
The accused are identified as Vidyananda Rao (59 yrs), a resident of Maryhill near Bondel in the city and his wife Lalitha Rao (52 yrs).
The couple has been accused in a fraud case for cheating Catholic Syrian Bank's branch near Falnir by pledging spurious gold ornaments and raising a loan of Rs 4.5 crore.
According to the sources, Vidyananda Rao owns a jewellery shop and he has pledged fake gold to the bank on 38 different occasions, whereas his wife raised loans nine times against pledge of fake gold ornaments.
The bank came to know about the fraud played on it during cross verification of the ornaments pledged by customers. It is said that Rao got ornaments made of bronze and coated them with gold. It is said that he was doing this so skillfully that even the jewel appraiser of the bank, Manjunath, was unable to detect it.
On realizing the matter, the bank management filed complaint in Bunder police station on 25th July, Tuesday. Upon the registeration of case, the police arrested the couple.
Bunder station police inspector, Shantharam, sub-inspector, Madan, and other staff participated in the operation. Further investigations are in progress.