Over a year ago, in 2017, Sudhir Patel and his wife, who live in Cardiff, Wales were robbed of £20,000 worth of gold.
A BBC investigation has revealed that since 2013, more than £140m worth of Asian gold jewellery has been stolen in the UK with 28,000 thefts recorded in the country.
“Half of it was an investment in the form of gold coins that I had bought over the years out of my savings!” said Sudhir Patel who accumulated the remaining of the precious metal in the form of jewellery as part of the Asian tradition. Aside from the gold coins, the burglars took away family heirlooms that included rings, bracelets, chains and bangles.
“I don't ever want to buy gold anymore. It is too risky and I would rather buy a house for Kushal's (his son) future,” said Patel.
Last year, alone there were 3,463 offences recorded in the UK where gold was stolen from Asian houses and according to the London Metropolitan Police it roughly amounted to an investment worth £50mn. The Met police had even issued warnings last year to the Asian households during Navratri and Diwali with suggestions ranging from having their jewellery insured to installing CCTV cameras for security purposes.
But BBC's 'Freedom of Information' request to the 45 police forces in the UK revealed that £141.3m worth of Asian gold had been recorded as stolen since 2013 alone in England. However, data was not made available by the police forces of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
But as culture dominates Asian marriages, gold as an ornament exists beyond a securitized asset that is tradable in commodity markets. This runs as part of the traditional exchange of gifts to the bride and the groom. For this reason alone, the Asian community tends to invest into the precious metal and lock it away into safety deposit boxes nearest to them.
“We highly recommend the public to keep their jewellery with a reputable safety deposit centre and we support our customers by providing lockers where their valuables will be safer than keeping them at home,” said a member from Neelkanth Safe Deposit, who wished to stay anonymous.
Neelkanth Safe Deposit is one of the larger safe deposit organisation in Europe with its two branches providing 10,000 safe deposit lockers and serving some 20,000 customers; 70% of which are Asian.
“We also recommend customers insure their jewellery so that when they wear jewellery to functions any potential loss is covered. Over the years, we have seen an increase in the number of customers using our services because they are concerned about the rise of home burglaries,” said the source.
However, insurance only covers a certain percentage of the loss and it is difficult to chase the burglars as well considering they immediately liquidate the commodity in open market often by selling it off at second-hand outlets.
The Met Police had earlier released a string of indications about how the burglars use various tactics of ripping up floorboards, removing bath panels and safes. They have therefore said that it is essential for the public to help prevent these offences by taking some precautions such as taking a photograph of the valuables as it is the best way officers can prove that those valuables belong to the concerned owner.
