Overview
- Ribhav Rishi and Abhay Kumar, former staff at IDFC First Bank’s Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh, were arrested Monday under the anti-money laundering law and a special court remanded them to ED custody till May 21.
- The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday asked the UT administration to justify letters dated May 2 and May 8 seeking release of frozen accounts after the case moved to the CBI on April 27, with the matter listed for May 14.
- ED says bank insiders forged fixed-deposit papers, funneled government and school funds into shell firms set up in the names of a driver, his wife, a personal assistant, a mother, and a chartered accountant, then routed money to jewellers and collected cash across the tricity.
- The agency pegs the loss at Rs 645.59 crore, naming Haryana and Chandigarh bodies such as HSPCB, CREST, and the municipal corporations, plus two Panchkula schools, while some reports cite a lower figure of about Rs 590 crore as tracing continues.
- Investigators searched 19 sites, froze more than 90 accounts, and say they are still following the money trail, a probe that has already triggered suspensions of two IAS officers and could shape how public deposits are safeguarded and supervised.