IAS Officer, 2 Ex-bankers arrested in Rs 504 crore Haryana fraud case

The CBI has arrested a senior IAS officer and two former bank officers in connection with the alleged embezzlement of Rs 504 crore from the Haryana Government accounts maintained in IDFC First Bank in Chandigarh, officials said on Tuesday.

The alleged actions of the IAS officer, Pardeep Kumar, who was posted as Member Secretary, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), resulted in the misappropriation of funds and caused a net loss of approximately Rs 169 crore to the Government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement. “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 were sent to IDFC First Bank far in excess of the prescribed limits. “For creating the fixed deposits, the funds of HSPCB were first transferred into an account opened at IDFC First Bank, Sector 32 Branch, Chandigarh,” a CBI spokesperson said in the statement.

Surprisingly, there is no record which the department could produce with regard to the opening of this account, the officer said. “The conspiracy was so deep that the account got opened without any approvals and funds were transferred into the account in the name of creating fixed deposits. The investigation conducted so far has revealed that no fixed deposits were created in this bank,” the statement said.

Instead, the agency alleged, fraudulent debit transactions were carried out from this account, resulting in the misappropriation of Government funds and causing a net loss of approximately Rs 169 crore to the state Government.

“This represents the single-largest financial loss suffered by any of the affected Government departments of Haryana in the overall scam (of Rs 504 crore),” it said.

The spokesperson said that Kumar was not joining the investigation despite repeated efforts.