Nearly Rs 950 crore in public funds have been siphoned off in multiple frauds involving IDFC First Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and others in Chandigarh and Haryana. Investigations reveal a collusive network of bank officials, government employees and private intermediaries using fake fixed deposits, forged documents and shell firms. The Haryana government has asked the CBI to take over the probe.
Investigators have named Ribhav Rishi, former manager at IDFC First Bank's Sector-32 branch, as a prime accused who allegedly used shell entities to siphon funds. Money was routed to accounts held by him and his wife Divya Arora. Bank staff including Priyanka Bhatoa, Anuj Kaushal, Abhay Kumar and Seema Dhiman face allegations of verifying forged signatures and approving suspicious transactions.
The frauds surfaced in January 2026 when discrepancies were found in Haryana's panchayat department records. Four cases involve Rs 590 crore at IDFC First Bank for Haryana departments, Rs 158 crore at Kotak Mahindra Bank for Panchkula Municipal Corporation, Rs 116.84 crore for Chandigarh Smart City Limited and Rs 83 crore for CREST Promotion Society. Officials like Nalini Malik, Sukhvinder Singh Abrol and Sahil Kukkar are implicated.
The playbook was consistent: targeting government funds, gaining bank insider access, forging documents, prematurely closing FDs, diverting to shell firms and creating fake reinvestments. Firms such as Swastik Desh Projects Pvt Ltd, RS Traders and Prisma Residency LLP are under scrutiny.
Agencies including the Enforcement Directorate, Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau, State Vigilance and Chandigarh Police's Economic Offences Wing are probing. Kotak's Vikas Kaushik and Pushpendra Singh allegedly opened fake accounts. Private individuals like Vikram Wadhwa and Swati Singla routed funds.