Chennur SBI gold fraud victims oppose settlement options, demand loan waiver
Customers affected by the SBI Chennur gold fraud have objected to settlement options offered by the bank, claiming they would suffer losses. The aggrieved borrowers have launched a relay hunger strike and demanded a waiver of 50 per cent of their loan dues.
Mancherial: Customers of State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Chennur cry foul over return of gold ornaments, pledged for availing loans, but were later misappropriated by bank staffers a few months ago.
On August 23, SBI regional manager Rithesh Kumar exposed the misappropriation of 20.50 kgs of gold ornaments and Rs 1.10 crore in cash during an audit held in the bank. He lodged a complaint with local police against Narige Ravinder, a cashier, Vunnapureddy Manohar, manager and Lakkakula Sandeep, an attender of the branch.
Police began investigations into the misappropriation by registering a case.
Police took up the case as a challenge and formed five special teams to investigate the fraud and to arrest accused persons. Forty four persons including Ravinder, Manohar and Sandeep , were apprehended for their alleged role in the sensational fraud on August 31. Police seized 20.50 kgs of gold ornaments and cash in Rs.1.10 crore from the accused persons. Three more persons were still absconding.
Ravinder reportedly confessed taking assistance from Manohar and Sandeep. He is said to have admitted to availing 142 loans by pledging gold ornaments at various lending firms in the names of 44 persons in Mancherial town after losing Rs. 40 lakh in online cricket betting platforms in 2024.
A few days ago, SBI officials served notices to the customers requesting them to settle the matter by choosing two options with a deadline of fortnight. As per one of the options, customers are entitled to receive compensation based on the weight, and purity of gold and current market price of the gold.
Else, the quantum of compensation will be fixed by the officials. It would be given to the customers in a month. According to the other option, the ornaments would be returned to the customers, if they give consent to the bank agreeing to wait till a court’s order. In either option, the customers should close their loans and are barred from approaching a court for further claims.
However, the customers are expressing concern over selecting the options. They cited that they would accrue losses if they chose any of the two options. They said that the officials were imposing charges and Good and Service Tax (GST) to provide the compensation for the gold ornaments. They alleged that the officials were harassing them under the guise of verdicts of courts.
The aggrieved customers launched a relay-hunger strike protesting against the SBI officials recently. They demanded the officials to waive off 50 percent of loan amount and accrued interest as well.
