CBI names 6 IAS officers in ₹504-crore IDFC Bank fraud case

They have been charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating, destruction of evidence, forgery, falsification of accounts, criminal breach of trust and abetment.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday named six IAS officers in its third charge sheet filed in connection with the ₹504-crore IDFC Bank fraud involving multiple Haryana government departments and organisations, officials said.

In the charge sheet submitted before the special CBI court, the federal agency has named Pardeep Kumar, then member secretary, Haryana state pollution control board (HSPCB); Ram Kumar Singh, then Panchkula commissioner; and Pankaj Agarwal, then chairman, Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB), who were arrested earlier in connection with the case. It has also named Mohammad Shayin, then managing director of Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd (HPGCL), Saket Kumar, then commissioner and secretary, development and panchayats department, and Vineet Garg, then chairman of the HSPCB.

CBI filed the charge sheet without obtaining prosecution sanction for the IAS officers, which effectively means the trial court cannot take cognisance of it or the police investigation report.

Also Read: ₹504-crore IDFC First Bank fraud: IAS officer ignored investment limits, parked ₹8 crore without quotations, alleges CBI"> ₹504-crore IDFC First Bank fraud: IAS officer ignored investment limits, parked ₹8 crore without quotations, alleges CBI

The charge sheet also names three IDFC First Bank officials —Shamim Ahmad Dar, Sudha Goyal and Kuldeep Singh — one AU Small Finance Bank official Charanjeet Singh Randhawa, and nine Haryana government officials — Deepti Kaushik, Rajesh Goyal, Prince Sharma, Saurav Kumar, Parveen Kumar, Surender Jain, Surinder Kaur, Amit Kumar, and Jugal Kishore.

They have been charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating, destruction of evidence, forgery, falsification of accounts, criminal breach of trust and abetment, among others, under BNS, besides for bribery and criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The alleged financial embezzlement came to light on February 24 with the arrest of Ribhav Rishi and Abhay Kumar, both former employees of IDFC First Bank, along with business partners Swati Singla and Abhishek Singla of Swastik Desh Project.

Earlier, CBI had charged 18 others, including officials of the two banks as well as state government officials, private individuals and private companies, in the case. With the latest charge sheet, the total number of accused charge-sheeted in the case has risen to 37.