Idfc First Bank Fund Fraud Cbi Senior Ias Officer Haryana Multi Core Arrest

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested senior IAS officer Pankaj Aggarwal in connection with the alleged misappropriation of government funds from accounts of the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP) and the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB) maintained at the Sector 32 branch of IDFC First Bank in Chandigarh.

Aggarwal, who was then Principal Secretary of the School Education and Agriculture departments, was arrested on June 22 and is being produced before a court on Tuesday.

The case was taken over by the CBI on a reference from the Haryana Government. According to the agency, its investigation found that accounts of the two departments were opened in violation of Haryana Finance Department guidelines and that funds were subsequently transferred to these accounts beyond prescribed limits.

The CBI alleged that the accounts were opened during Aggarwal’s tenure as Principal Secretary and that fraudulent transactions carried out through them led to the misappropriation of government funds, causing a net loss of Rs 60.54 crore to the state exchequer. The agency said it had collected incriminating evidence against the officer during the course of the investigation.

The alleged fraud involving HSSPP and HSAMB is part of a larger scam at the Sector 32 branch of IDFC First Bank, where funds worth Rs 504 crore belonging to eight Haryana government departments were allegedly siphoned off and routed through shell entities.

The CBI had taken over the probe from the Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau at the request of the state government. So far, 17 accused have been chargesheeted in the case, including six bank officials of IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, three Haryana government officials, two companies and six private individuals.

The agency said senior IAS officer R K Singh, who was arrested earlier in connection with alleged misappropriation of funds linked to the Municipal Corporation, Panchkula, has since been remanded to judicial custody after the expiry of his police remand.

The CBI also pointed out that it has taken over two related cases from Chandigarh involving Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) and the Centre for Research and Industrial Staff Performance (CREST). Chargesheets have already been filed in both cases.

In the CSCL case, the agency has chargesheeted five bankers, one CSCL official and one private individual. In the CREST case, five bankers, two CREST officials, four private individuals and two companies have been chargesheeted. A senior Indian Forest Service officer has also been arrested in the CREST case.

The CBI said investigations are continuing to trace the flow of allegedly misappropriated public funds and identify all those involved.