Eight Bank Staffers Booked in Karachi For Locker Fraud
Two branch managers were also among the fraudsters while the swindling happened at the bank’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gulistan-e-Johar branches
The staffers of JS Bank in Karachi were found involved in a unique case of locker fraud as they swapped real gold with artificial jewelry and sanctioned loans to fake clients.
Two branch managers including a woman were also among the fraudsters while the swindling activity happened at the bank’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gulistan-e-Johar branches.
The suspects sanctioned loans worth around Rs 750 million to selected clients.
The bank management learned about the activity during the routine audit.
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The police have booked 8 suspects including 2 women and also recovered 4 luxury cars from the swindlers.
The police officials said they have yet to arrest a female employee who has gone into hiding.
The police officials said that the fraud was detected when the bank conducted the routine audit on August 2 at Gulistan-e-Johar branch.
Some 50 bags in lockers were checked by the auditors which had fake gold in them.
They immediately informed the head office about it after which another audit team was sent the next day.
The new team checked another 150 bags which also had artificial jewelry instead of real.
The police officials said that some 28 clients obtained loans worth Rs 550 from the branch against jewelry as security.
The police arrested five staffers including the female branch manager.
When the scope of the investigation was extended and an audit of the Gulshan-e-Iqbal branch was underway, the same fraud was detected there too.
The police officials said 11 fake clients obtained loans worth Rs 240 million against jewelry with the connivance of the branch officials.
East Investigation SP Altaf Hussian said that the police have recovered 3.1 kilograms (kgs) jewelry, Rs 2.3 million, and 4 luxury cars from the suspects.
He confirmed that eight bank employees have been apprehended by the police while they were conducting raids for the female suspect, Maha.
SP said that the investigation of the case is underway and more suspects part of the chain would be arrested.
