Enforcement Directorate Arrests Two Former IDFC First Bank Employees in Rs 645 Crore Haryana Funds Laundering Case

Money Laundering Case Rocks IDFC First Bank

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested two former employees of an IDFC First Bank branch in Chandigarh in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged embezzlement of Rs 590 crore in Haryana government funds and cheating other entities. Ribhav Rishi, a former manager, and Abhay Kumar, an ex-relationship manager, with the bank's Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh, were taken into custody on Monday.

A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has sent them to ED custody till May 21. The ED said the investigation conducted so far has detected embezzlement of public funds amounting to Rs 645 crore from the bank accounts maintained with the IDFC First Bank's branch by the Haryana government, the UT administration of Chandigarh, and two private schools in Chandigarh and Panchkula.

The ED alleged that Rishi floated "shell" entities Capco Fintech Services and RS Trader in the names of his personal assistant and driver. It also claimed that Kumar floated a "shell" entity, Swastik Desh Projects, in his wife's and brother-in-law's names. These shell entities received funds worth hundreds of crores of rupees, "directly embezzled" from various government accounts, which were then "layered and siphoned off".

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Efforts are underway to trace the complete money trail and identify the other beneficiaries and properties acquired using the embezzled funds, the ED said. The money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, which arrested about 11 accused, including six bank employees, four private individuals, and a government official, as part of its investigation.