Staff at a private bank in Karachi wiped out their own bank, and managers at two branches, along with staff, replaced customers’ genuine gold jewelry with fake gold.
Police arrested eight people, including a female branch manager. People prefer to keep all their money in banks, including their gold, jewelry, and other equipment as such these belongs often get robbed if kept at home.
The question is, what is the solution to this problem if the citizens and business people who carry gold and consider bank lockers as the best place to keep their equipment safe do not trust the banks? Let’s consider.
Millions embezzled in a private bank
The story is that the staff of 2 branches of JS Bank robbed their own bank of crores, on which 8 people were arrested while these incidents took place in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gulistan-e-Jauhar branches of the bank.
Managers of both the branches along with the staff were involved in the robbery and exchanged the gold jewelry of the customers kept in the lockers with artificial gold and a huge loan of about Rs. 75 crore was obtained through the same fake gold and customers.
Robbery in Gulistan-e-Jauhar revealed
Five days before today, on August 2, during a routine audit, 50 of the sealed bags kept in the lockers of the branch were checked and their jewelry turned out to be fake. Audit officers informed the head office. The next day another audit team came to the bank.
When the audit team checked 150 bags, more gold was found to be fake. Earlier, 28 clients had secured a huge loan of Rs 55 crore by mortgaging 55 jewelry on which 5 accused were arrested and a case was also registered.
Gulshan-e-Iqbal robbery and legal action
The manager and staff of the Gulshan-e-Iqbal branch of the same bank were also found involved in the same work. A case of embezzlement in the branch of the said bank near Baitul Mukarram masjid has been registered in Aziz Bhatti police station of Karachi, according to which 11 clients got Rs. 204 million as loan by mortgaging gold ornaments.
The incident was revealed 3 days ago when an audit revealed that the jewelry and gold in the bags were not genuine. A total of eight accused have been arrested in both robbery cases, one woman has still not been apprehended.
According to police, 3 kg and 100 grams of gold and Rs 2 million 30 thousand have been recovered from the possession of the accused. The number of people arrested, the amount recovered and the jewelry are likely to increase further.
Problem with gold mortgage borrowers
People who have ample wealth and want to take out a loan just for business, usually never mortgage jewelry and gold. People who mortgage gold and housewives’ jewelry usually belong to the poor or middle class.
How many people were affected by this robbery at two branches of a private bank is a question to which no one has an answer yet. Gold mortgage borrowers are already compelled to have no choice but to knock on the door of a bank.
