The Economic Offences Wing (EoW) arrested two valuers of ICICI Bank on Thursday in the Rs 23-crore fake gold loan scam at ICICI Bank. The scam came to light on April 1 when the bank auditor, while auditing, found that one packet of gold was fake. On the basis of a complaint registered by Dhananjay Ramesh Thite, Zonal Officer, ICICI Bank, EoW started investigation and found that the fraud was not a random act, but a well-organised operation carried out with strong co-ordination between insiders and outsiders. Searching deep in the case, EoW investigated in nine branches of ICICI Bank in city and found that 159 gold packets were fake in these branches. Earlier, the auditor of Manish Nagar branch found that out of 123, 32 gold packets were fake.

 

On the basis of the investigation, the team of EoW arrested auditor Pramod Bhaiyaji Tete, a resident of Lalganj, Mehadibag Road, near Police Quarters; and first auditor Rajendra Pundalikrao Shilankar, a resident of Kirnapur, Hudkeshwar Khurd, Pipla. The complainant registered complaint against valuers of the bank Nandu Kharwade, first auditor; Rajendra Shilankar; Pramod Tete; Dhananjay Dhomne; Pankaj Kekatpure; Sachin Raut; and 152 account holders who committed the crime for their personal benefits. After apprehending both accused, the court awarded three days Police Custody Remand (PCR) to both of them. PI Santosh Tokalwad is conducting the further investigation. The scam, which involves more than Rs 23 crore, came to light during a routine gold loan audit at the bank’s Manish Nagar branch.

 

During the inspection, it was found that several gold ornaments pledged by customers were fake. This triggered a wider audit across branches and finally revealed a shocking pattern. Investigations showed that 159 account holders from nine branches had taken loans by pledging counterfeit gold ornaments. The fraud is believed to have been carried out over nearly three years, from January 2023 to October 2025, raising serious concerns about internal monitoring and audit failures. Sources in the investigation said, the accused worked in co-ordination to pass off fake gold as genuine during the verification process. Valuers allegedly cleared the ornaments without proper checks, while internal controls were bypassed.