Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Monday said that the funds are in First IDFC Bank $The 590-crore fraud case “will definitely come back,” he said, adding that appropriate action would be taken against the guilty.
Addressing the Haryana Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister said the government transferred all the funds to an approved bank after noticing the errors. He added that the matter has been transferred to the Anti-Corruption Bureau and Vigilance Department.
“We were proactive in detecting this fraud… When some errors were noticed, we requested data, and these too did not match. So, the government decided to transfer all the money to an authorized bank, with interest… IDFC First Bank wrote a letter to SEBI in its defence, saying one of the employees was at fault,” it said.
He added: “We referred the matter to the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Vigilance Department, and the investigation is continuing… The money is completely safe, and will definitely be returned. Appropriate action will be taken against whoever is found guilty, and even the bank if it is wrong.”
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Saini said the government takes this issue seriously.
“The matter has come to light on social media recently. We have investigated the case to the ground level… I assure the House that all the money will be returned… I can make no statement until after the investigation…” the Prime Minister said.
Meanwhile, the Finance Department (Institutional Finance and Credit Control) of Haryana has dismantled First IDFC Bank and African Union Microfinance Bank for government operations with immediate effect.
The department issued instructions to all government departments, boards of directors, institutions and public sector institutions to transfer funds from these banks to other approved banks and close the accounts immediately until further notice.
IDFC FIRST BANK has suspended four employees after detecting fraudulent activity involving approx $Rs 590 crore in some accounts of the Haryana government in its Chandigarh branch, the bank said in a stock exchange filing.
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“The bank has launched an investigation and plans to recover the funds through legal and disciplinary action. Based on the initial internal audit conducted, the matter is limited to a specific set of government-linked accounts within the Haryana government operated through the said branch in Chandigarh and does not extend to other clients of the Chandigarh branch,” the bank said.
