70L heist at bullion trader’s shop, 2 staffers behind crime

Ahmedabad: A gold heist, planned in detail by a bullion trader's own staff, has come to light. The trader, Pratik Soni, on Monday filed a complaint with Navrangpura police accusing three members of his staff of siphoning off 900g of gold worth Rs 70 lakh over a period of three months by manipulating accounting entries.
Soni, who runs his shop from the Third Eye Complex on CG Road, stated in his FIR that while checking the accounts on Saturday, he came across an unusual entry wherein 500g of gold was shown as delivered to a client. However, his bank records showed no money deposited against this delivery. Employee Hardik Kanani, who handles accounts and delivery records, initially claimed that the entry was an error, but further questioning revealed that another employee, Yash Soni, had taken the gold without authorisation.
CCTV footage from Feb 3 confirmed that Yash had stolen the gold from a drawer and added entries in the accounting software. Kanani admitted that Yash had offered him Rs 5 lakh as commission to alter the records. A third employee, Amit Bhalani, who managed the accounting software, initially denied his involvement but later admitted to receiving Rs 17 lakh from Yash over time.
The bullion trader and his associates confronted Yash at his residence in Viramgam, where he confessed to stealing 500g of gold and distributing part of the proceeds to Kanani and Bhalani. Yash returned Rs 12 lakh but failed to provide explanations for entries, including those of a 700g delivery to an unknown ‘Palanpur jeweller' and 200g to ‘another jeweller'. The accused have been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.