Three men, including a branch manager and area head of a financial firm, were arrested for allegedly selling and taking loans against 29kg gold worth Rs 21 crore stored in bank lockers

MUMBAI: Police on Monday arrested three men, including an area head and a branch manager of a financial services company, for allegedly partially selling and taking a loan against 29kg gold worth Rs 21 crore that had been stored in bank lockers. The accused allegedly invested the sale proceeds and the loan amount in the stock market.
The scam came to light after the finance company conducted an audit to find the gold missing.When confronted by company officials, the accused allegedly resorted to threats, claiming they had connections with the underworld.
City crime branch’s property cell has arrested the company’s Dombivli branch manager Shivkumar Iyer (30) and area head Shivaji Patil (29), and bullion trader Sachin Salunke (41) in the case. Police have registered a case against them under various sections of IPC, including for criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal conspiracy and misappropriation of funds.
The complaint was filed by Akash Pachlod, an official of Rover Finance Ltd, a company that provides gold loans. In 2024, Rover Finance had taken over the loan department of Trillion Loan Fintech Pvt Ltd.
During an audit conducted by the company in April, it was discovered that 260 packets containing 29kg of gold ornaments, kept as mortgage in a bank locker, had gone missing. The keys to the locker were in the possession of Patil and Iyer. When questioned about the missing gold, the accused initially evaded the issue. Iyer, though, later reportedly admitted to investing the proceeds and loan amount in stocks for higher profit in connivance with Patil since Jan 2024.
The funds were invested through Salunkhe who took a bank loan against part of the gold. The proceeds were shared between Patil who received Rs 40 lakh and Iyer who got Rs 8.7 crore. Iyer said he suffered losses in the stock market.
When the complainant met Iyer in Andheri on June 4 and inquired about the gold, Iyer allegedly threatened him saying he would involve “bhai log”, local colloquialism for people with a criminal history, if a complaint was filed against him. The company then lodged a complaint with Sakinaka police, alleging that Iyer and Patil had secretly taken 260 packets of gold ornaments between Jan and April. Police obtained Iyer’s bank statement and found he had invested money with Salunkhe, proprietor of R K Bullion. Police also found chats between Iyer and Salunkhe. Nothing has been recovered so far, said cops.