Gold appraiser held for Rs 3.81 crore fake loan fraud in Delhi

Delhi: A gold appraiser of a non-banking financial company (NBFC) has been arrested for allegedly conspiring with others to create 683 fake gold loan accounts using forged documents and artificial gold ornaments to fraudulently obtain loans worth over Rs 3.81 crore, an official of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) said on Friday.

The accused, Pankaj Kumar, was working as a gold appraiser with a private company and was arrested on July 7 following an investigation into the alleged fraud, he said.

According to the EOW, the case came to light after the company’s internal audit detected large-scale irregularities in its gold loan portfolio.

“The audit found that nine packets of original pledged gold ornaments worth around Rs 14.11 lakh were missing. The audit further revealed that 683 fake gold loan accounts had been created between 2022 and 2025 using forged KYC documents, fake customer identities and artificial gold ornaments. Based on these accounts, loans amounting to about Rs 3.81 crore were fraudulently disbursed,” the statement of the EOW read.

An FIR was registered at the EOW police station in August 2025, and further investigation was taken up.

During the investigation, police examined loan files, appraisal reports, KYC documents, audit records, bank statements and other financial records, besides recording statements of company officials and other witnesses.

Police said that Kumar, in conspiracy with other accused, certified fake or artificial gold ornaments as genuine to sanction fraudulent loans, forged identity documents and fabricated loan records allegedly to create fake borrower accounts.

“To avoid detection during internal audits, the accused and his associates allegedly continued depositing interest in the fake loan accounts and made false entries in the company’s loan management system to project them as regular and active,” read the statement.

Kumar, a University of Delhi graduate, had been working with the company since 2014 and was responsible for evaluating pledged gold ornaments, verifying customer documents and processing gold loan applications.

During interrogation, he disclosed the modus operandi adopted in executing the fraud. Police said efforts are underway to identify the source of the fake gold ornaments, trace the proceeds of crime, recover the missing property and ascertain the involvement of other persons in the conspiracy. Further investigation is in progress.