Businessman held for Rs 6 lakh fraud

BHUBANESWAR: Kharavela Nagar police on Wednesday arrested a businessman here on charges of duping a city-based gold merchant of nearly Rs 6 lakh.
The accused, Balaram Martha, who runs a construction material business in Nayagarh, was an acquaintance of the jeweller.
On September 20, Martha took jewellery worth Rs 13 lakh from his friend's store on credit.He gave him Rs 7 lakh the following day and promised to pay the rest soon. Martha later did a vanishing act following which the jeweller lodged a complaint on October 13.
Police found that Martha deposited the gold in a private finance company and took Rs 8.4 lakh loan. "He paid Rs 7 lakh to the jeweller and invested the rest in his business. The gold was recovered from the finance firm," twin cities commissioner of police R P Sharma.
"The gold finance company immediately gave loan to the accused. They should have verified his credentials ," he said.
On August 16, police arrested a salesgirl of a city-based jewellery store on charges of misappropriating ornaments. She had mortgaged stolen yellow metal in a leading gold loan company. On October 1, another person was found stashing stolen gold ornaments in another finance company.
Sharma said he would convene a meeting with gold loan companies here on October 18. They would be asked to follow strict procedures before accepting gold from people, he added.