Overview
- Beed police arrested Vilas Udawant on Thursday from his newly opened shop in Dehugaon near Pune after receiving an informer tip.
- Officers allege he supplied counterfeit ornaments that customers pledged to secure at least 16 bank gold loans through a local public sector branch.
- Police estimate the scheme generated about ₹2.5 crore in roughly two months before the accused sold his Beed properties and relocated.
- Investigators seized 18 kilograms of silver during the Dehugaon raid and are probing possible accomplices including any bank staff.
- Authorities noted a recent Bengaluru case where two suspects were held in a separate gold-loan fraud with articles worth about ₹1.8 crore seized.