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₹590-crore govt funds fraud case: Two former IDFC First Bank employees among 4 arrested
Among the four arrested, Ribhav Rishi was the head of the bank’s branch in Chandigarh’s Sector 32 till six months ago
Probing the ₹590-crore IDFC First Bank fraud case, the Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau on Tuesday night arrested four people, including two former bank employees.
Bureau director general (DG) Arshinder Singh Chawla said among the four arrested, Ribhav Rishi was the head of the bank’s branch in Chandigarh’s Sector 32 till six months ago when he left the job and Abhay, the bank’s relationship manager, quit the job around August last year. Abhay’s wife Swati Singla and her brother Abhishek Singla were also arrested.
“Abhay’s wife Swati, along with her brother, had set up a company Swastik Desh Projects, owning 75% and 25% stakes, respectively,” Chawla said.
The DG said preliminary investigations had revealed that about ₹300 crore of government funds were transferred to Swastik Desh Projects’s account in AU Small bank, leading to the four arrests.
“We have discovered that out of ₹590 crore, the aggregate amount currently under reconciliation and suspected to be fraudulently transferred, a large portion of money belonged to Haryana government departments. However, there are certain accounts of Chandigarh administration, which could also have been compromised though the amount is relatively less as compared to Haryana funds,’’ Chawla said.
He said tracking the money trail was a cumbersome time-consuming process and the agency was taking on board a chartered accountant to expedite investigations.
IDFC First Bank wanted to be complainant
The bureau chief said IDFC First Bank wanted to become a complainant in the case and had sought registration of case in Chandigarh and Mumbai. “However, since the swindled amount belonged to Haryana government, the state government intervened to inform Chandigarh and Mumbai police that a Haryana law enforcement agency will investigate the matter,” Chawla said.
An in-house inquiry conducted by a committee, constituted by the Haryana development and panchayats department on February 11 following detection of accounting mismatch, had found that IDFC First Bank furnished forged account statements purportedly to mislead the department officials.
On the basis of the committee’s inquiry report, the bureau had on Monday night registered a case against IDFC and AU Small Bank employees, alongside unidentified public servants and private persons, primarily in connection with alleged unauthorised financial transactions and suspected forgery involving government accounts maintained by the two banks under the Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana 2.0.
Chawla said investigation will however widen further and the agency will also scrutinise suspected fraudulent transactions worth ₹590 crore involving certain other government department accounts also.
The first information report registered at Panchkula police station invoked Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, pertaining to criminal misconduct by a public servant. The bureau also applied several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 316 (5): criminal breach of trust by a banker or agent; Section 318(4): cheating; Sections 336 (3), 338 and 340(2): forgery and using forged documents; and Section 61(2): criminal conspiracy.
On February 18, the Haryana government officially de-empanelled IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank from participating in government business.
The three-member inquiry committee after examining the available record said in its report that it was of the unanimous view that IDFC First Bank continued to process transactions even after receiving the signature update (communication of December 10 duly received on December 12, 2025) using the forged signature of the then Director General, Development and Panchayats, DK Behera, along with a forged debit note.
“No fund transfer instructions were issued against two bank accounts by development and panchayats department. Prima facie the signature on the cheques processed by IDFC First Bank doesn’t seems to match with the signatory on the account opening form,’’ the inquiry report said.
It further said the debit note provided by the IDFC First Bank did not bear any letter numbers. Also, the signature on debit note seemed to be forged.
IDFC First Bank officials’ response awaited
Development and panchayat department officials said senior IDFC First Bank officials who attended proceedings of an inquiry committee constituted by the development and panchayats department on February 16, 2026, were directed to submit their written statements, along with details being presented to the inquiry committee. “The IDFC First bank officials promised to submit the said statement after due vetting and following standard operating procedure of the bank. But no such statement has been submitted till date,’’ officials said.
The committee’s report said the records presented to the committee showed that multiple cheques, along with debit notes,which were processed by the bank for payment transfers prima facie bore forged signatures of the then director general, DK Behera, despite the fact that he had relinquished charge on October 28, 2025.
“The debit notes attached with the cheques do not have any memo number or dispatch number and they also seem to contain forged signatures. One of the cheques processed by the bank mentioned the amount in figures as ₹2.5 crore, whereas the amount in words is written as “Rupees Twenty-Five”, which has been honoured and processed by the bank indicating a serious discrepancy,’’ officials said.
Dushyant Chautala writes to PM, seeks CBI probe
Senior Jannayak Janata Party leader and former Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) into the alleged ₹590-crore scam.
He said there were clear indications of collusion between bank employees and external elements in executing the alleged fraud, and the involvement of other individuals and institutions cannot be ruled out. The former deputy CM expressed a lack of confidence in the probe being handled by the Haryana anti-corruption bureau on the grounds that the investigation required application of forensics and banking fraud and corporate laws, which only specialised agencies like the CBI and SFIO were equipped to handle.
