Two jewellery appraisers at a nationalised bank in Kavanur village were arrested for misappropriating ₹1.7 crore through 1,080 grams of gold sovereigns of fake jewellery.

The police said that the arrested persons were identified as B. Parthiban, 42, and G. Srinivasan, 55. They are residents of K.V. Kuppam. Initial inquiry revealed that Parthiban was working as an appraiser in the bank for over 15 years whereas Srinivasan was an appraiser for the past three years. During a surprise inspection at the bank, senior officials found fake jewellery that was pledged by creating 16 fake customer accounts.

Investigation revealed that two jewellery appraisers had pledged fake jewellery under 16 different names and misappropriated ₹1.7 crore. The team also found that the duo had been doing the fraudulent activity for the past few years. The suspects had been pledging small quantities of jewellery at a time, over the years to evade suspicion from senior bank officials. 

Following the discovery, bank officials registered a complaint with Vellore police. Around 1,080 grams of fake gold jewellery were recovered from them.