Overview
- Chandigarh Police’s Economic Offences Wing registered an FIR on ‘ghost’ fixed deposits worth ₹116.84 crore linked to Chandigarh Smart City Ltd accounts at IDFC First Bank’s Sector 32 branch.
- The complaint names outsourced accountant Anubhav Mishra and former branch manager Ribhav Rishi, with investigators alleging forged FDRs from March–April 2025 and flagging three unrecorded payments totaling ₹8.22 crore.
- The Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at 19 locations across Chandigarh, Haryana and parts of the NCR to trace the ₹590-crore diversion from Haryana government accounts.
- ED’s preliminary findings point to layering through shell companies and small jewellery entities, cash withdrawals, and funds disguised as gold purchases and real estate investments, with hotelier Vikram Wadhwa reported as absconding.
- Haryana’s vigilance bureau reported further arrests in the ₹590-crore case, including former bank staffers Priyanka Bhatoa and Anuj Kaushal and Chandigarh resident Ankur Sharma, as IDFC First Bank said reconciliations are complete and ₹645 crore in claims have been paid.