IDFC fraud: Police flag larger nexus involving bank, Chandigarh MC officials

Investigators flagged three dubious transactions worth over ₹78 crore, including payments made to entities such as Capco Fintech and Sunlive Solar Systems, which did not align with MC records

The Chandigarh Police on Monday sought fresh seven-day custodial remand of three former IDFC First Bank employees in the ₹116-crore fake Chandigarh MC FDs fraud, telling a local court that the probe had widened significantly, with new leads pointing towards a larger nexus involving bank officials, MC staff and auditors.

Following the submissions, the court granted police three more days to question the three accused. (HT)

Police told court that at this stage, custodial interrogation of accused Ribhav Rishi, Abhay Kumar and Seema Dhiman was required to recover the system on which the forged FDRs were created, to verify the roles of bank employees and MC officials and arrest other co-accused.

Investigators flagged three dubious transactions worth over ₹78 crore, including payments made to entities such as Capco Fintech and Sunlive Solar Systems, which did not align with MC records. One major transaction of nearly ₹74.98 crore, routed to Sunlive Solar Systems in September 2025, was suspected to have been deliberately kept below ₹75 crore approval limits to bypass higher scrutiny, they said.

Police informed court that Ribhav Rishi, the then branch manager of the bank’s Sector 32 branch, during interrogation categorically denied issuing or signing any of the questioned Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) or bank statements. He stated that FDR receipts and bank account statement shown to him during investigation neither bore his signatures nor were issued by him at any point.

According to him, all banking operations relating to MC and Chandigarh Smart City Limited accounts were handled by Abhay Kumar (relationship manager) on behalf of the bank, while from the MC side, Anubhav Mishra (outsourced accountant) was managing all transactions and records.

Rishi claimed that blank FDR receipt forms were taken by Anubhav Mishra from Priyanka Bhatoa, a teller at the IDFC First Bank branch. These blank forms were subsequently used to fabricate fake FDRs and bank statements. He alleged that the fabrication was carried out by Anubhav Mishra in connivance with Abhay Kumar.

Referring to a key transaction flagged in the probe ( ₹74.98 crore to Sunlive Solar Systems), Rishi said the transaction was approved by Seema Dhiman (bank authoriser) based on approvals from Shamim Darr (government business banking RM for MC) and Dhirender Pratap Singh (regional head, IDFC First Bank).

He said the regional head had approval powers only up to ₹75 crore, and the transaction amount was kept just below this threshold, suggesting it was deliberately structured to avoid higher-level scrutiny.

Rishi also brought in an audit angle, stating branch audits were conducted every three months, including during his tenure. Audits were carried out by Naresh Sukhija and Deepak Kumar. He alleged that to “manage” these audits, he arranged for installation of solar systems at the auditors’ residences, with payments made from his personal accounts to Sukhwinder Singh Abrol, project director, CREST. He claimed he could substantiate these payments.

He claimed he could substantiate these payments and expressed willingness to undergo cross-examination along with the auditors and Abrol.

Seema Dhiman, who worked as a bank authoriser under Ribhav Rishi, admitted her role in approving the high-value transaction but maintained that it was done based on internal approvals.

Abhay Kumar, the relationship manager handling MC and Smart City accounts, also denied any role in forging documents. While he handled the accounts as relationship manager, all transactions on behalf of MC were carried out by Anubhav Mishra, the outsourced accountant. Kumar said Anubhav Mishra obtained blank FDR receipt forms from Priyanka Bhatoa (bank teller). These were used to prepare fake FDRs and fabricated bank statements.

Police told court that at this state, custodial interrogation of accused Ribhav Rishi, Abhay Kumar and Seema Dhiman was required to recover the system on which above said forged FDRs were created, to verify the roll of bank employees and MC officials, to arrest other co-accused, to know the modus operandi of accused and also to conduct cross-examination of above said accused with suspected bank officials, audit officials and MC officials in this case.

Following the submissions, the court granted police three more days to question the three accused.