According to the available information from the reliable sources, the mixing of spurious material in gold is rising at Canacona in South Goa. Sources have claimed that there is a mixing of up to 30 percent spurious metal in the gold that is not easily traceable but brings the value of gold down. This fact has been exposed by one of the banks in Canacona into the media. How this fraud got exposed? And who is behind this adultery business? Here is the complete report on this.
[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”] Mixing of another metal in the gold is not the new story and every goldsmith does that since it is the part of the process which makes the most expensive metal on the earth stronger. According to the process mixing of a certain quantity of the copper makes this precious mellow metal bit stronger but reduces its carat value by a certain percentage. For example, the pure gold has the carat value of 22 while the ornaments are made from 18 to 20 karat gold.
But here the case is completely different. According to the news published in the local daily, the bank manager in Canacona has exposed the case of mixing of the spurious material in gold in a huge quantity which is alleged to be as much as 30 percent. According to the bank manager who disclosed this fact before the Heraldo news reporter stating that he has discovered that many people who have mortgaged the gold with the bank have been found to be mixed with 30 percent copper and another alloy that makes the gold spurious.
The manager has further disclosed that this practice is amounting into the losses to the bank as the market value of the gold comes down due to the mixing of the high amount of spurious metal into it. He said that several mortgagers had confronted with the goldsmith after getting the warning from Bank but charges had been denied by the goldsmith over the issue of the seal of authenticity that is not there on the ornaments.
This brings us to the old case of one co-operative bank of Goa that was swindled by gold mortgagers, and when the latter failed to collect the mortgaged ornaments, the bank put it up for auction only to realize that the ornaments that were mortgaged were of spurious quality and not up to the standards that the swindlers had disclosed. The chapter was closed as ‘Bad Debt because the person at the helm of affairs was a strong politician and ex-minister of Goa.
According to the sources, with the price of gold sky-rocketing every day, sources revealed that many goldsmiths in South Goa, especially in the Canacona municipal area, have taken to adulterating the precious metal with copper and other metals to make quick money by hoodwinking unsuspecting buyers.
One of the traditional goldsmiths from Chavdi Canacona told the media that maximum numbers of goldsmiths mostly the young guys are out to make fast bucks are resorting to these malpractices of making spurious gold ornaments. Another goldsmith from Palolem, who spoke on condition of anonymity, informed that the adulteration is done as per the status of buyers, i.e. if the buyer is from a financially higher class, the adulteration of gold with copper or other metals is only 10 percent, but if the buyer is from the middle class, adulteration is 15 percent, and adulteration for the backward community customers is easily above 25 to 30 percent.
Interestingly, the goldsmith informed that if a purchaser buys gold on credit, the adulteration is between 30 and 50 percent. Most of the victims are family members or relatives of an engaged couple. Those from lower classes purchase gold in installments, and here too the goldsmith charges them interest that is higher than the market price.
There are a number of cases in Canacona which brought this fact to the light whereby the goldsmith has cheated many customers by supplying them with the adulterated gold. The customers cannot even demand the money from them since the goldsmiths in Canacona never issues the bills. Reportedly, they usually give an unrealistic piece of paper containing scribbling and without a signature or stamp. The worst thing is that no purchaser demands a receipt, feeling that gold itself is of more importance than a paper receipt, informed Rajesh Gaonkar, former Sarpanch of Cotigao.
It is necessary to buy the gold from the reliable resources only to avoid the possibility of adulteration and in most cases it is recommended to take the proper receipt from the goldsmith for the same. There is also need of governing authority to keep watch on the adulteration.
Source: HERALDO
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