The Enforcement Directorate has widened its probe into the alleged misappropriation of fixed deposits (FDs) belonging to Panchkula Municipal Corporation deposited in a Kotak Mahindra Bank branch
The ED conducted searches across various locations in Haryana and Punjab on Wednesday as part of a money laundering investigation.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out the operations at premises spread across Chandigarh, Panchkula, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi, and Rajpura in Patiala district.
An FIR was lodged in March by the Haryana Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), alleging that municipal fixed deposits worth Rs 145 crore, held at a Kotak Mahindra Bank branch in Sector-11, Panchkula, had been fraudulently siphoned off.
The searches targeted properties belonging to Pushpender Singh, a former deputy vice president at the bank, Dileep Kumar Raghav, who previously served as customer relationship manager at the same branch, and Vikas Kaushik, a former senior accounts officer with the municipal corporation, along with several others.
Previous week, a Panchkula court had remanded the bank’s Deputy Vice-President, Pushpender Singh, to five days’ police custody. Pushpender Singh was the branch manager of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sector 11, Panchkula, where funds of Municipal Corporation, Panchkula, were siphoned off.
He had surrendered before the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Haryana, on Wednesday, and was later arrested. During a hearing in the court, the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau submitted that Rs 30-35 crore was paid in commission to Pushpender Singh and he used the funds to purchase a Wrangler Rubicon, a Mercedes GLS, and a Harley-Davidson motorbike.
Some individuals were already arrested by ACB and the ED’s preliminary findings reveal a coordinated conspiracy involving bank staff, municipal officials, and private individuals working together to divert public money.
According to the agency, Raghav and Singh — with Kaushik’s support — allegedly opened two bank accounts in the corporation’s name using forged authorisation documents.
Corporate funds held in legitimate accounts were then transferred into these unauthorised accounts through fabricated fund migration letters purportedly issued by the municipal body. Bank officials are also alleged to have used unauthorised email accounts to validate transactions triggered by these fake letters.
The diverted money was subsequently channelled to individuals identified as financiers — Rajat Dahra, Swati Tomar, Kapil Kumar, and Vinod Kumar — before being routed back to Singh and his wife, Preeti Thakur. A portion of the funds also found its way to real estate companies and other private parties, according to the agency.
To conceal the fraud, the corporation was reportedly handed counterfeit fixed deposit receipts purporting to show investments across 16 FDs with a combined principal of Rs 145.03 crore and a maturity value of Rs 158.02 crore.
This is a big scam after Rs.590 crore scam in IDFC First Bank wherein, Rs.590 crore belonging to Haryana Government was embezzled by some staff of the Bank.
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