CBI gets prosecution approval against Chief Financial Officer and 5 employees of IDFC First Bank
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has secured a major breakthrough in the dual financial scams involving Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) and the Chandigarh Renewable Energy & Science & Technology Promotion Society (CREST). The central agency received the official prosecution sanction against six key accused, including former CSCL Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Nalini Malik.
The prosecution approval allows the CBI to proceed legally against the individuals implicated in siphoning and manipulating over ₹200 crore of government public funds deposited in the Sector 32 branch of IDFC First Bank.
The CBI has received approval to prosecute former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Nalini Malik in the case of misappropriation of Rs 116 crore funds deposited in IDFC Bank for the Smart City Project. The approval has been granted by Smart City to the CBI. Additionally, the bank has also approved prosecution of three bank officials: Ribhav Rishi, Abhay Kumar, and Seema Dhiman. All of them are currently facing trial in the CBI court.
The CBI has also received prosecution approval against two accused, Priyanka Bhatoa and Anuj Kaushal, in the ₹83 crore Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST) scam. CBI public prosecutor Narendra Singh presented the prosecution approval order to the CBI court.
The five bank employees, against whom CBI has received prosecution are:
- Ribhav Rishi (Former Branch Manager and alleged principal architect)
- Abhay Kumar (Senior Relationship Manager)
- Seema Dhiman (Banker Authoriser)
- Priyanka Bhatoa (Customer Service Executive)
- Anuj Kaushal (Customer Service Executive)
The overall investigation is part of a much larger ₹657-crore multi-department fund diversion web spanning across both Chandigarh and Haryana. ₹657-crore was siphoned from multiple government boards, corporations, and municipal bodies.
The scam was orchestrated through a deep collusion between senior IAS bureaucrats, municipal officers, private shell company operators, and banking executives from IDFC First Bank (Sector 32, Chandigarh branch) and AU Small Finance Bank. The central mastermind behind the operations was identified as Ribhav Rishi, the former Branch Manager at IDFC First Bank.
