No IAS officer involved; banks told to freeze 100 accounts: ACB
Panchkula, March 13 -- The state vigilance and anti-corruption Bureau (SV&ACB) on Thursday ruled out involvement of any IAS officer in the alleged Rs.590 crore IDFC First Bank fraud case. The ACB also said that a request has been sent to concerned authorities to freeze over 100 bank accounts suspected to be linked to the fraudulent transactions.
ADGP Charu Bali and SP Ganga Ram Punia, while addressing a press conference at Panchkula headquarters, said that the probe revealed unauthorised financial transactions in 12 bank accounts linked to eight Haryana government departments. Of these, 10 accounts were maintained at IDFC First Bank, Sector 32, Chandigarh branch, and two at AU Small Finance Bank. So far, 11 accused have been arrested, including six bank employees, four private individuals and one government official. Among them, 10 are in judicial custody while one is on police remand.
Accused Vikram Wadhwa, the key conspirator in the alleged fraud and a Chandigarh-based realtor-cum-businessman is still on the run. On being asked if any IAS-level officer was found involved in the alleged fraud or whose name surfaced during the probe, the agency said, "Not as of now."
Officials said that raids at 16 locations across Mohali, Chandigarh, and Gurugram have been conducted. During the searches, officials recovered documents related to property purchases suspected to have been made using the proceeds of crime. The ACB also seized over 25 electronic devices, including mobile phones and laptops, and sent them to the cyber forensic laboratory for examination.
Authorities have also seized six luxury vehicles-three Toyota Fortuners, two Innovas and one Mercedes-believed to have been purchased using illicit funds.
In addition, requests have been sent to freeze over 100 bank accounts suspected to be linked to the fraudulent transactions. The probe has also identified unauthorised financial transactions in eight government departments, and scrutiny of financial records for the past one year is nearing completion. Investigators have also identified 10 properties suspected to have been purchased from the proceeds of crime.
According to the probe, the accused manipulated banking records by preparing fake debit memos or transferring funds without valid debit memos or cheque authorisation. Probe also revealed that forged bank statements were prepared to facilitate the transfer of funds to multiple accounts linked to the accused and their relatives.
The probe began 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.
Their arrests came a day after an FIR was registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Corruption Act....
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