The CBI arrested IAS officer Pradeep Kumar, on the day of his superannuation, and two former bank officials in connection with the alleged misappropriation of Rs 504 crore belonging to eight Haryana government departments maintained at IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, officials on Tuesday said.
Kumar, a 2011 batch HCS officer who was later promoted to the IAS, was posted as Member Secretary, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) when the alleged misappropriation of funds took place at IDFC Bank’s Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh causing a net loss of Rs 169 crore to the government, the CBI said in a statement. He had been on the run and had also filed an application for anticipatory bail in a Panchkula court that was scheduled to come up for hearing on July 2.
Kumar is the third bureaucrat — after IAS officers Ram Kumar Singh and Pankaj Agarwal — to be arrested by the CBI in connection with the case.
The Haryana government on April 8 had suspended Kumar and another HCS-promotee IAS officer RK Singh for their alleged role in the multi-crore scam.
The CBI, in a statement, said that the investigation revealed that Kumar, as Member Secretary, HSPCB, 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 fixed deposits, the funds of HSPCB were first transferred into an account opened at IDFC First Bank, Sector 32 Branch, Chandigarh,” the agency said.
It said that surprisingly, there is no record which the department could produce with regard to opening of this account. “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 CBI said.
Instead, the agency alleged, fraudulent debit transactions were carried out from this account, resulting in the misappropriation of 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.
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The CBI statement further said that was not joining the investigation despite repeated efforts. “He was arrested after the CBI successfully traced his whereabouts,” it said.
Earlier in the day, CBI said it has accused Shamim Dar, then area head of IDFC First Bank, and Charanjeet Singh Randhawa, then branch manager of AU Small Finance Bank’s Mohali branch.
According to the CBI, the two accused played key roles in facilitating the opening of bank accounts and processing fraudulent transactions through which public funds were diverted. The agency said it had collected incriminating evidence against both during the course of the investigation.
The CBI took over the probe from the Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau at the request of the state government. The agency is investigating the alleged fraud at IDFC First Bank’s Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh, where Rs 504 crore belonging to eight Haryana government departments was allegedly siphoned off through forged or non-existent fixed deposits and debit notes before being routed to shell entities.
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So far, the CBI has chargesheeted 17 accused in the case, including six officials of IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, three Haryana government officials, two companies, and six private individuals.
The agency is also investigating two other cases transferred from the Chandigarh administration — one relating to Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) and the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, and another involving the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society (CREST).
The CBI has filed chargesheets in both cases. In the CSCL case, it has chargesheeted five bankers, one CSCL official and one private individual. In the CREST case, it has chargesheeted five bankers, two CREST officials, four private individuals, and two companies.
The agency said it remained committed to bringing all those responsible to justice and tracing the complete trail of the misappropriated public funds.