CBI Arrests Senior Haryana Officer In Multi-Crore IDFC First Bank Fund Misappropriation Case

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested Pankaj Aggarwal, a senior IAS officer, in connection with the alleged misappropriation of government funds from the account of Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojana Parishad (HSSPP) and Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB) maintained with the Sector 32, Chandigarh branch of IDFC First Bank.

Aggarwal, who was the then Principal Secretary in the Department of School Education and Agriculture, will be produced before the court on Tuesday, according to a statement by the probe agency. The case pertains to an alleged fraud at these two departments, involving misappropriation of approximately Rs. 60.54 Crores.

This misappropriation was 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 case was taken over by the CBI at the request of the Government of Haryana.

The Investigation revealed that accounts of these departments were opened in violation of the extant guidelines of the Finance Department of the Government of Haryana, and later funds were transferred thereto in excess of limits. These accounts were opened during the tenure of Pankaj Aggarwal.

The investigation revealed that fraudulent transactions in these departments' accounts resulted in the misappropriation of funds, causing a net loss of Rs. 60.54 Crores to the government. During the investigation, incriminating evidence against Pankaj Aggarwal has been collected.

So far, 17 accused have been charge sheeted by the CBI in this Haryana case, which includes 6 Bank officials of IDFC First Bank/AU Small Finance Bank,3 public servants of the Haryana government, 2 companies and 6 Private persons.

Senior IAS officer RK Singh, who was arrested in this case in relation to misappropriation in Municipal corporation Panchkula, has been remanded to judicial custody after the expiry of his police remand. CBI has also taken over 2 other cases from the Chandigarh Union Territory - one about Chandigarh Smart City (CSCL)/ Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and another of CREST Chandigarh. One chargesheet each in these cases has also been filed by the CBI.

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 officer has already been arrested in the CREST Case.

Also read:

1. IDFC First Bank 'Fraud': ED Makes 3rd Arrest In Rs 645-Crore Embezzlement Case
2. CBI Conducts Searches In Rs 661 Cr IDFC First Bank-AU Finance Bank Fraud Case