Beed, Nov 7: Police have arrested a jeweller hailing from Beed city in Maharashtra for allegedly defrauding at least 16 customers to the tune of Rs 2.5 crore by supplying fake gold to them on the basis of which they sought loan from a bank, officials said on Friday.

Accused Vilas Udawant, a resident of Pandit Nagar area in Beed, was picked up from his newly-opened jewellery shop in Dehugaon area located near Pune city on Thursday, they said, adding that 18 kilograms of silver was seized from there.

Fraudulent Scheme

Udawant, who earlier operated a shop in Beed, had devised a scheme to quickly get rich, an official said.

"He made fake gold ornaments for customers seeking bank loans and forwarded their loan applications to a a local branch of a prominent public sector bank. At least 16

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