Chandigarh: The Haryana government on Thursday suspended two IAS officers in connection with the Rs 597 crore IDFC First and AU Small Finance Bank scam.
The suspended officers are Ram Kumar Singh, a 2012 batch officer, who was the Additional CEO of Panchkula Metropolitan Development Authority, while 2012 batch officer Pardeep Kumar was the Director of State Transport and Special Secretary in the Transport Department.
As per the official order, during the suspension, the headquarters of both officers will be at the office of the Chief Secretary.
Last month, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) conducted searches at 19 premises across Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, Gurgaon and Bangalore in connection with the IDFC First Bank case. During the searches, more than 90 bank accounts have been frozen, and incriminating material in the form of digital as well as documentary evidence has been seized, the ED had said in a statement.
The ED’s Chandigarh Zonal Office said that the money was misappropriated from accounts of the Haryana government, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and other government agencies.
The ED initiated an investigation under PMLA, 2002, based on an FIR registered by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Panchkula, in February 2026 in relation to a mismatch of balances in the bank account of the Development and Panchayat Department, Haryana, held with IDFC Bank and AU Small Finance Bank.
The amount was to be kept as a fixed deposit with the bank; however, the accused persons diverted these government funds without authorisation, the ED said.
The search operations have covered former bank employees, namely Ribhav Rishi and Abhay Kumar, their family members, and beneficiary shell entities, namely M/s. Swastik Desh Projects, M/s. Capco Fintech Services and Mis Maa Vaibhav Laxmi Interiors, M/s. SRR Planning Gurus Private Limited, jewellers’ firm Sawan Jewellers and real estate developers like Vikram Wadhwa and his business entities.
Searches have revealed that the public funds embezzled by the accused persons have been routed and layered across multiple shell entities.
The ED said the accused’s modus operandi involved the incorporation of a shell entity, Swastik Desh Projects, and diverting government funds to this account initially. The partners of the Swastik Desh are Swati Singla and Abhishek Singla.
Thereafter, a majority of the funds have been channelised through bank accounts of jewellers to create an illusion of gold purchase through bogus billing, the ED said.
The scam was perpetuated over the last year, approximately, with the assistance of the ex-bank employees, said the ED.
Rishi, who is one of the ex-employees of IDFC First Bank, had utilised the various shell companies for siphoning off the bank funds, it said. He resigned from the bank in June 2025.
Some of the Proceeds of Crime were even dissipated to the bank accounts of Rishi and his wife, Divya Arora, the ED said. Besides, a significant amount was been siphoned off by Wadhwa, a hotelier and real estate developer running various projects at Mohali, the ED said.
(IANS)
