In a massive crackdown on financial fraud, the Ramagundam police have arrested 44 individuals, including three employees of the State Bank of India (SBI), for their involvement in a gold loan scam and misappropriation of bank funds. Acting on a complaint filed by Chennur SBI regional manager Ritesh Kumar Gupta, police revealed that around 402 gold loan accounts were manipulated, leading to the theft of jewellery worth ₹12.61 crore and an additional ₹1.10 crore in cash. The fraud involved a total of 25.17 kilograms of gold, making it one of the biggest banking scams in recent times. An audit into cashier Narige Ravinder’s accounts exposed unusual deposits, triggering the investigation.

During interrogation, Ravinder confessed to being at the center of the fraud. Having lost ₹40 lakh in online cricket betting last year, he colluded with branch manager Vennapureddy Manohar and outsourcing employee Lakkakula Sandeep to cover his losses. The duo began siphoning off gold and cash, misusing their control over the bank’s currency chest. Further investigations revealed that Ravinder mortgaged stolen jewellery through his friends employed at SBFC Mancherial, who in turn pledged it across ten private gold lending companies including Muthoot Finance, Manappuram, Indel Money, and Godavari Urban. In return, they transferred money back to Ravinder while pocketing commissions.

Police also discovered that Ravinder and the branch manager fabricated 42 fake gold loans in the names of his family members and friends without pledging any collateral. This fraudulent scheme allowed him to siphon off ₹1.58 crore, projecting a false mortgage of 4.14 kilograms of gold. Apart from this, Ravinder was found guilty of pocketing cash meant for ATM replenishment. Ramagundam Police Commissioner Amber Kishore Jah praised the investigation teams for their swift action, which prevented further losses to the bank and exposed a widespread network of fraudsters operating across Telangana.