The Rs 23 crore fake gold loan scam at ICICI Bank has taken a serious turn, with investigators suspecting that a ‘mastermind’ within the bank played a key role in running the fraud for years. The Economic Offences Wing (EoW) has launched a detailed probe to identify the bank official who allegedly coordinated the scam from inside. According to preliminary findings, the fraud was not a random act but a well-organised operation carried out with strong coordination between insiders and outsiders. Officials believe that such a large-scale scam, spread across multiple branches and involving a high number of accounts, could not have been possible without the knowledge or involvement of a senior bank employee.

 

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. Police said, the fraud involved a network of individuals, including customers, valuers, auditors and bank staff. Among those named in the case are account holder Sachin Raut, valuer Nandu Kharwade, auditors Rajendra Shilankar, Pramod Tete, and Dhananjay Dhomne, along with Branch Manager Pankaj Kekatpure. Around 152 more account holders also are under suspicion.

 

Sources in the investigation said, the accused worked in coordination to pass off fake gold as genuine during the verification process. Valuers allegedly cleared the ornaments without proper checks, while internal controls were bypassed. Investigators now suspect that a key person within the bank may have been guiding or protecting the operation, ensuring that the fraud went undetected for a long time.

 

The EoW officials are now examining internal records, communication logs and approval processes to trace the suspected mastermind. “The scale and duration of the scam clearly indicate insider involvement at a higher level,” an official said. Other branch managers of the bank also are under the scanner, informed sources.