A major ₹23 crore fraud has been uncovered at ICICI Bank in Nagpur, where fake gold jewellery was used to secure loans and cheat the bank.
Between January 2023 and October 2025, some people took loans from the bank by depositing what they claimed was gold. Normally, banks check the gold carefully before giving money. But in this case, during a routine internal audit (a checking process done by the bank), it was found that the gold kept as security was actually fake. Normally, when someone takes a gold loan, the bank checks the gold’s purity and weight with the help of experts (called valuers). But in this case, fake gold was accepted as real.
The scam was discovered during a routine audit at one branch. When the bank checked further, they found that this was not just one case. This fraud happened across nine branches in Nagpur, and around 159 people were involved in taking these loans using fake gold.
The complaint was filed by a senior bank officer, and now the police are investigating all the people involved, including some key suspects. Police suspect that the fraud was not carried out by customers alone. Some bank employees and valuers are also believed to have been involved, indicating that it was a well-planned conspiracy.
