Arrest hours before retirement: Inside IAS officer ‘deep conspiracy’ in ₹504 crore Haryana IDFC Bank fraud case

HOurs before his scheduled retreat, suspended IAS ship's officer Pardeep Kumar was arrested by the exchange Bureau of investigating (CBI) in link with the alleged embezzlement of ₹504 crore from Haryana government accounts maintained with IDFC First Bank in Chandigarh, officials said on Tuesday.Kumar, who was posted as member secretary of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), was suspended by the Haryana government earlier. The CBI said he had been evading investigation for some time and was arrested after the agency traced his whereabouts, according to an earlier HT report.The agency alleged that Kumar's actions resulted in the misappropriation of funds and caused a net loss of around ₹169 crore to the Haryana government - the single-largest financial loss suffered by any affected department in the overall ₹504 crore scam."The investigation has revealed that the actions of Pardeep Kumar, as member secretary, had a direct nexus with the fraud. He himself handled the entire investment-related work at his level. Funds for fixed deposits (FDs) were sent to IDFC First Bank far in excess of the prescribed limits," the earlier report quoted a CBI spokesperson as saying in a statement.FD funds diverted in ‘deep conspiracy’The CBI alleged that funds meant to be parked in fixed deposits were instead diverted through an unauthorised bank account opened at IDFC First Bank's Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh."For creating the FDs, the funds of HSPCB were first transferred into an account opened at IDFC First Bank, Sector 32 Branch, Chandigarh, the statement said, adding that surprisingly, there is no record which the department could produce with regard to the opening of this account."The conspiracy was so deep that the account was opened without any approvals and funds were transferred into the account in the guise of creating FDs. The investigation conducted so far has revealed that no FDs were created in this bank," the statement said.Instead, the agency alleged that fraudulent debit transactions were carried out from the account, leading to diversion of public funds and a loss of approximately ₹169 crore to the Haryana government."This represents the single-largest financial loss suffered by any of the affected government departments of Haryana in the overall scam of ?504 crore," the statement said.Bank officials also arrestedThe arrest of Kumar came a day after the CBI arrested two former banking executives - Shamim Dar, former area head of IDFC First Bank, and Charanjeet Singh Randhawa, former branch manager of AU Small Finance Bank's Mohali branch - in the case."The arrests come after investigators uncovered incriminating evidence showing that both officials abused their positions to facilitate the opening of unauthorised bank accounts and execute fraudulent transactions. These accounts were designed to divert surplus public funds meant for secure investments," a CBI spokesperson said.Both accused were produced before a duty magistrate in Panchkula court and were sent to three days' police custody.The CBI alleged that Dar, while working as area head of IDFC First Bank's government banking group, was involved in sourcing, generating and approving the opening of several government department accounts, including those of Kalka Municipal Corporation, Panchkula Municipal Corporation, Haryana Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB), HSPCB, HPGCL Employees Pension Fund Trust and Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP)."Dar facilitated fraudulent transactions, including a forged debit of ₹2.49 crore from the HSSPP account, played a key role in a ₹10-crore cancelled-cheque debit from the HSAMB account, and enabled a backdated change of an authorised signatory," the CBI spokesperson said.The agency alleged that Randhawa approved fraudulent debit transactions using forged cheques and fake debit notes while serving as branch manager/authoriser at AU Small Finance Bank's Phase 11, Mohali branch.The CBI further alleged that Randhawa approved fraudulent debits worth around ₹47.51 crore from the director panchayat MMGAY 2.0 account and authorised the transfer of ₹25 crore from the HPGCL Employees Pension Fund Trust account to a shell company.Seeking custody, the CBI told the court that custodial interrogation was required to confront the accused with documentary and digital evidence. The court subsequently granted three days' police remand of both accused.With the latest arrests, the CBI has so far chargesheeted 17 individuals in connection with the alleged scam. The agency said the alleged network involved six bank officials from IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, three Haryana government public servants, two companies and six private individuals.According to the CBI, the fraud was allegedly carried out through the IDFC First Bank's Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh, where funds belonging to eight Haryana government departments were diverted through forged or non-existent fixed deposits and debit notes before being routed to shell entities.