Investigators probing the Rs 590-crore fraud committed by officials of the IDFC First Bank have indicated a similar modus operandi in the Rs 150 crore “mismatch” in fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) detected at a Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Panchkula branch. The investigators are also not ruling out the possibility of involvement of the same set of accused who are already arrested in the IDFC First bank’s scam.
On the other hand, the initial complaint lodged by IDFC First Bank at Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) in connection with the Rs 590-crore fraud still remains under “active consideration” of the Chandigarh Police.
Initially, when the scam surfaced, police officers informed the media that although IDFC First Bank had moved complaints seeking registration of FIRs with Chandigarh and Mumbai police, the Haryana government had stalled it citing the reason that it had already initiated the investigation and shall go for registration of an FIR. Thus, Haryana’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and state vigilance were assigned the task to register FIR and initiate investigations. So far, the Haryana government’s investigating agencies have arrested over a dozen accused suspected to be involved in the multi-crore scam.
According to sources, Chandigarh Police is working in tandem with the Haryana ACB, which is probing the larger financial irregularities linked to alleged misuse of government-linked accounts. The fraud, detected at a Chandigarh branch of the IDFC First Bank, is suspected to have been committed by various government employees who allegedly facilitated the siphoning of funds by misusing accounts associated with Haryana government entities. “Following the initial complaint [filed by IDFC First bank], the Chandigarh Police had initiated a probe and moved swiftly to freeze multiple bank accounts suspected to contain proceeds of crime,” a source told The Indian Express.
Sources added that the Chandigarh Police has also written to the Haryana’s ACB seeking clarity on specific bank accounts that may no longer be required to be kept frozen for the ongoing investigation. “The bank accounts, which were suspected to have been used for misappropriation of funds were identified and frozen under relevant provisions of law to prevent further diversion or laundering of funds and to secure financial trail critical to the investigation. Chandigarh Police is currently analysing transaction patterns, account linkages and the role of bank officials and other intermediaries,” a source added.
Although the UT Police has yet not taken any action on the complaint lodged by IDFC First Bank, the same set of accused who were arrested by Haryana’s ACB in the Rs 590 crore scam have been interrogated Police in connection with the Smart City Project, Municipal Corporation’s funds and CREST’s funds.
Haryana Police sources told The Indian Express that they are not ruling out the possibility of involvement of the same set of accused in Kotak Mahindra’s Rs 150 crore scam, as well.
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“There are lot of similarities in the modus operandi in the IDFC First bank’s Rs 590 crore fraud, Chandigarh Smart City/ MC’s Rs 116-crore and CREST’s Rs 75 crore and now Kotak Mahindra’s Rs 150 crore scam. In all cases the government funds first land in these banks and then move out through private firms/ companies’ accounts to real-estate developers and then further into real-estate projects. It appears to be a wider network of misappropriation of government funds by a bunch of private entities, real-estate developers, bank as well as government officials. All these points are being looked into,” a senior Haryana Police officer said.
Rs 150-cr mismatch: second accused held, had received Rs 60 cr
Haryana’s State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau Thursday made its second arrest in connection with the alleged discrepancies in Panchkula Municipal Corporation’s fixed deposit receipts of nearly Rs 150 crore at a Kotak Mahindra Bank branch.
The accused has been identified as Rajat Dahra, son of Bhagwan Das Dahra. “The accused has been arrested in Kotak Mahindra Bank case. He has disclosed that he received more than Rs 60 crore from two bank accounts. He allegedly transferred this money to many other accounts which are being investigated,” a senior Haryana Police officer said..
The Vigilance had on Wednesday arrested Dileep Kumar Raghav, a relationship manager in the bank at the time of the commission of offence. Raghav was produced in the Panchkula court, from where he was remanded to four-day police custody.
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Multiple transactions in four accounts from May 28, 2020 till March 25, 2022 are under scanner in the case. The investigating agencies apprised the court that Raghav’s custodial interrogation was required because he was not cooperating in the investigation and he was required to be questioned on each transaction. Raghav was also required to unearth collusion of other officials/ private entities/ government department officials allegedly involved in the case. The stamps, cheques and other objects/ documents used by the accused in commission of the offence were also yet to be recovered. The investigating agencies are looking into 16 Fixed Deposits amounting to Rs 145.03 crore with a maturity value of Rs 158.02 crore at Kotak Mahindra Bank’s sector-11 branch, Panchkula.
