IDFC First scam: CBI arrests senior IAS officer for embezzling Rs 60 cr
New Delhi, June 23 (PTI) The CBI has arrested a senior IAS officer for allegedly embezzling Rs. 60.54 crore from the accounts of the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojana Parishad (HSSPP) and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB), maintained with IDFC First Bank, officials said Tuesday.
Pankaj Aggarwal, then Principal Secretary in the Department of School Education and Department of Agriculture in the Haryana government, was arrested on Monday after it emerged in the probe that accounts were opened in the bank’s Chandigarh Sector 32 branch in violation of the Haryana government guidelines, and later funds were transferred to it in excess of limits.
“These accounts were opened during the tenure of Pankaj Aggarwal, the then Principal Secretary. Investigation revealed that through fraudulent transactions in the accounts of these departments, funds were misappropriated, causing a net loss of Rs. 60.54 crore to the government,” CBI Spokesperson said in a statement.
The case is part of the CBI investigation into Rs 657 crore of embezzlement from the accounts of the Haryana government and Chandigarh administration maintained at IDFC First Bank.
The total loss caused to the Haryana government by the illegal transactions is Rs 504 crore, while in Chandigarh’s case, it is Rs 153 crore, the CBI Spokesperson said.
Aggarwal will be produced before the special court on Tuesday.
The CBI took over the probe at the reference of the Haryana government.
“During the investigation, incriminating evidence against Pankaj Aggarwal has been collected,” the spokesperson said.
The fraud at these two departments involved misappropriation of approximately Rs. 60.54 crore, forming part of a larger scam at the Sector 32 IDFC First Bank branch, in which funds to the tune of Rs. 504 crores of eight Haryana Government departments were siphoned off and routed to shell entities, the statement said.
The CBI has charge-sheeted 17 accused in this Haryana case, which includes six bank officials of IDFC First Bank/AU Small Finance Bank, three public servants of the Haryana government, two companies and six private persons.
“Senior IAS officer R. K. Singh, who was arrested in this case in relation with misappropriation in Municipal Corporation Panchkula, has been remanded to judicial custody after the expiry of his police remand,” the spokesperson said.
Pertaining to the IDFC scam, the CBI is also probing two other cases from Chandigarh — one concerning Chandigarh Smart City (CSCL) and the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, and the other concerning CREST Chandigarh.
“The CBI has chrargesheeted five bankers, one CSCL official and one private person in the CSCL case; and five bankers, two CREST officials, four private persons and two companies in the CREST case. Further, one senior IFoS (Indian Forest Service) officer has already been arrested in the CREST case,” the spokesperson said.
