CHANDIGARH: The CBI on Tuesday arrested a third IAS officer in connection with the Haryana govt funds scam, picking up the former Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) member secretary, Pardeep Kumar, on the day of his retirement.The CBI said it has established a direct nexus between Kumar and the embezzlement of Rs 169 crore from HSPCB accounts at IDFC First Bank’s Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh.The HSPCB fraud is part of a much larger Rs 593 crore banking scam spanning eight Haryana govt departments. In these cases, public funds were systematically diverted through forged or non-existent fixed deposits (FDs) and fraudulent transactions before being routed through various shell companies.The CBI had already arrested two IAS officers, Ram Kumar Singh and Pankaj Agarwal, in connection with the case.Kumar had been absconding for nearly a week and had moved an anticipatory bail application before a CBI court. The agency said Kumar had repeatedly avoided joining the investigation despite several notices, and was arrested after teams successfully traced his location.The CBI alleged Kumar personally handled the entire investment process and facilitated the transfer of board funds to the bank’s Chandigarh branch, far beyond the prescribed limits for creating fixed deposits.
₹169cr loss highest-ever for a Hry dept: CBI
Investigators found that before the proposed fixed deposits were created, govt funds were first transferred into a bank account opened at the branch without any documented departmental approval. The board could produce no official records relating to the opening of the account.The probe further revealed that no fixed deposits were ever created. Instead, fraudulent debit transactions were executed from the account, causing a net loss of Rs 169 crore to the state. The CBI described it as the single largest financial loss suffered by any department in the wider banking scam.The total number of arrests in the wider scam now stands at 22.So far, the CBI has filed charge sheets against 17 accused, including six bank officials from IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, three Haryana govt officials, two companies, and six private individuals.The CBI is also investigating two connected Chandigarh cases involving Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) and CREST, where charge sheets have already been filed. The agency said efforts are continuing to trace the entire trail of diverted public funds and bring all those involved to justice.
₹593cr scam: Two ex-bankers arrested
CBI has arrested two more former bank officials in a Rs 593-crore fraud case involving Haryana govt accounts.A special CBI court in Panchkula on Tuesday remanded the two accused, Charanjeet Singh Randhawa, former branch head at AU Small Finance Bank, and Mohammad Shamim Dhar, former team head of IDFC First Bank’s Government Business Group, to three-day CBI custody.
