Bank Manager Accused of Rs 90.2 Lakh Fraud at Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank

Mangaluru: A bank manager has been accused of defrauding Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank’s Kateel branch of Rs 90.2 lakh. Vijay Ashok Dotihal, regional manager, lodged a complaint against Dinesh Hegde, who served as the manager from May 25, 2021, to May 13, 2024. Hegde is accused of pledging fake gold ornaments, forging signatures, and taking loans for personal use.

The complaint alleges that Hegde created fake records, breaching the trust of both the bank and its customers. His fraudulent activities were exposed when customer Suma Suvarna requested an additional loan on her previously pledged gold on June 18. The current branch manager found the gold in the bank’s locker to be fake, leading to a thorough investigation which revealed that 30 loan accounts were associated with fake gold ornaments.

During his tenure, Hegde allegedly approved loans for four accounts without proper document verification. Customers Gurudutt Rao, Tulasini, Sukanya, Prabhavati, Vittal, and Mamata had their real gold ornaments replaced with fake ones. Hegde then pledged the real ornaments at Manappuram Finance’s Mangaluru branch, retrieving them on July 18, 2024.

Hegde is also accused of defrauding deceased customers Lakshmi and Nishchala, as well as customers Anasuya and Leela, by pledging fake gold at another bank. He misled contract employees Harinaksi and Shilpa, and customers Geetha, Usha, Suma Suvarna, and Dheeraj AP into giving him their gold ornaments, promising to redeem them but instead taking loans for personal use.

A probe by Dotihal and senior bank officials confirmed these fraudulent activities. Police are currently investigating.