In a real-life tale mirroring a film plot, a gold loan officer in Davangere landed behind bars after police uncovered a massive gold loan scam. T P Sanjay (33), working at Catholic Syrian Bank, allegedly stole and mortgaged gold ornaments worth crores, driven by an obsession with luxury and reportedly influenced by the film Lucky Bhaskar starring Dulquer Salmaan.

Sanjay had been employed as a gold loan officer since October 2024, with access to customer-pawned gold. Exploiting his position, he mortgaged 2.744 kg of fake gold in the names of friends and family to raise Rs 1.52 crore. His authority in gold verification helped him bypass scrutiny.

But the fraud didn’t stop there. He also stole 3.643 kg of real gold, worth nearly Rs 2 crore, which had been pledged by genuine customers. He mortgaged the stolen ornaments at other banks and private financiers, taking loans in his and his parents’ names.

Superintendent of Police Uma Prashanth revealed that most of the ill-gotten funds were spent on online gambling and luxury indulgences. Sanjay’s actions came to light only after an April audit exposed major discrepancies. CCTV checks and a subsequent investigation led to his arrest by KTJ Nagar police.

Ironically, the bank had earlier praised Sanjay for processing large gold loans swiftly. A BCA graduate, he had previously worked in private finance firms as a pawnbroker before landing the bank job last year.