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An employee of the State Bank of India (SBI) in Tamil Nadu was booked by the CBI for misappropriating jewellery worth Rs 8 crore by cutting pieces of gold with a blade and taking home parts of ornaments pledged by bank customers against loans. B. Sekar, employed as a cash officer in SBI's Kethanur Branch, Palladam, carried out the illegal act over five years between 2017 and 2022 while working in the jewels division.

An initial case against Sekar, 57, was registered by police on the complaint of branch manager K. Sudhadevi who checked CCTV footage before concluding that Sekar was involved in cheating and misappropriation.

She told the police that she came to know about Sekar's acts from media reports on March 12, 2022, which carried complaints from customers alleging that their jewels pledged in the bank branch were weighing less than their original weight. The police registered an FIR against Sekar under penal provisions related to breach of trust and cheating. Later, the Madras High Court on August 28, 2024, directed the Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu, to issue necessary orders for the transfer of investigation to the CBI.

Following this, a complaint relating to misappropriation and cheating involving Rs 8 crore was registered by the federal agency. The branch manager's complaint against the employee said, " Legal action may be taken against B. Sekar for the act of misappropriation of jewels of the customers of our branch and to get back the jewels misappropriated by him."
While giving her complaint, she shared Sekar's address as TSB Home, Balaji Nagar, TKT Mill Bus Stop, Palladam Road, Tiruppur. The branch manager said that based on the orders of the senior officials an inquiry was conducted, and the CCTV footage of the branch was scrutinised for January 11, 2022, of the jewels division.

The complaint said, "It was found that from May 8, 2017, Sekar misappropriated some of the parts of the jewels pledged by the customers of our branch using a cutting blade. Based on which an administrative internal inquiry is being done."

The Anti-Corruption Branch, Chennai, filed a fresh FIR against Sekar on Monday and filed its copy before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Coimbatore.