IDFC First Bank ₹590 crore fraud: What we know
A huge ₹590 crore scam just came to light at IDFC First Bank's Chandigarh branch, where four people—including the former branch and relationship managers—allegedly used forged cheques and unauthorized debits to steal funds from Haryana government accounts.
Nearly half the money was funneled into a company run by one accused's wife and her brother.
How the fraud was detected
The fraud was only discovered when a department tried to close its fixed deposits and noticed missing funds.
After an internal check, IDFC First Bank said it identified suspected fraud of about ₹590 crore, with reports variously putting the amount recovered or reimbursed at around ₹583 crore.
The bank quickly reimbursed the state government within 24 hours, issued recall notices to beneficiary banks and sought the freezing of linked accounts, and was de-empanelled by the Haryana government.
Now, investigators have frozen suspect accounts and a forensic audit is underway to trace exactly what happened.