The CBI on Thursday arrested Haryana cadre IAS officer Ram Kumar Singh in connection with alleged misappropriation of funds worth Rs 79.46 crore from Panchkula Municipal Corporation's IDFC First Bank account when he was posted as the municipal commissioner, officials said. The arrest was made as part of the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) probe into the alleged embezzlement of Rs 657 crore from the accounts of the Haryana government and Chandigarh administration maintained at the bank's branch at Sector 32, Chandigarh.
According to the CBI, Rs 504 crore worth of funds belonging to eight Haryana government departments and Rs 153 crore belonging to the Chandigarh administration were siphoned off through forged and non-existent fixed deposits and debit notes, and routed to shell entities. The fraud involving the Panchkula Municipal Corporation was linked to the Haryana government's case. According to a CBI spokesperson, Panchkula Municipal Corporation's account was opened at the bank's branch at Sector 32, Chandigarh, in violation of guidelines laid down by the Haryana government's Department of Finance.
Particulars in the account opening form were allegedly entered in a manner designed to conceal the fraudulent transactions to be carried out later, the spokesperson said in a statement. "Pursuant to an understanding with the accused officials of IDFC First Bank, R K Singh IAS, Commissioner, Panchkula Municipal Corporation, handed over multiple signed cheques to the bank officials through middlemen under the garb of opening fixed deposits. The funds were debited using these cheques, and no fixed deposits were ever created," the statement said.
The CBI alleged that the embezzled funds were diverted to shell entities controlled and operated by the accused bank officials. "The misappropriation was carried out with the knowledge and active participation of the then commissioner (Singh) and the senior accountant of Panchkula Municipal Corporation. The senior accountant has already been arrested by the CBI in this case," the spokesperson said.
The agency stated that its probe so far has revealed Singh's "active role". "His residences at Chandigarh and Karnal were searched, and several incriminating documents were recovered," it said. The CBI has so far chargesheeted 17 accused in the case. Six officials of IDFC First Bank/AU Small Finance Bank, three public servants of the Haryana government, two companies and six private persons were chargesheeted, the statement said. The CBI has also taken over the investigation in two cases from Chandigarh: one pertaining to Chandigarh Smart City and Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, and another pertaining to CREST Chandigarh. The agency has filed one chargesheet each in these cases.