Gurugram: An FIR has been registered in a Rs 116.84-crore financial fraud involving public funds for urban development against a former manager of IDFC First Bank and an outsourced accountant of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh. The money was the surplus left after the Chandigarh Smart City Ltd project’s tenure ended earlier this year and was meant to be transferred to the municipal corporation.
Just last month, a fraud of Rs 590 crore was detected in accounts of Haryana government departments and entities at the Chandigarh branch of IDFC First Bank. This prompted the Nayab Singh Saini government to de-empanel the bank from business, a decision that remains in place.
The latest fraud involving the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh came to light weeks after the Smart City project’s tenure ended in January 2026. This left a surplus of Rs 116.84 crore that was mandated for transfer to the municipal corporation. A dedicated account was opened at IDFC First Bank for this purpose. For the fraud, the accused allegedly generated 11 fake fixed deposit receipts and submitted them to the municipal corporation’s accounts branch as “proof” of investment of the Rs 116.84 crore.
However, these FDs were fake. No detailed scrutiny of these FDs was conducted for a long time, so the fraud remained buried.
It came to light only when an outsourced employee of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh who worked for the Smart City project—Anubhav Mishra—stopped coming to work after the scam related to the Haryana government department accounts. His absence triggered suspicions, and further investigation revealed that all 11 FDs were fake.
Now, the Chandigarh Police’s Economic Offences Wing has charged Anubhav Mishra, and Ribhav Rishi, the former manager of the IDFC First Bank Sector 32 branch, and others under sections 318(4) (cheating), 338 (forgery of valuable security), 336(3) (forgery with intent to cheat), 340(2) (using a forged document as genuine), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), and 316(5) (criminal breach of trust by a public servant or banker) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
In the earlier Rs 590-crore fraud involving Haryana government funds, Ribhav Rishi was arrested by Haryana’s Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau on 25 February.
Investigators noted that some of the IDFC Bank employees being probed also figured in the earlier fraud investigation, indicating that questioning those individuals will follow shortly. The role of other corporation employees is also being looked into.
Just as the Haryana government claimed in February, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation too claims to have recovered all the money.
Amit Kumar, Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh, told ThePrint Tuesday that the bank had returned Rs 116.84 crore, along with interest, to its bank accounts.
“The corporation has received Rs 121 crore back—including interest,” he said, adding that a complete review of the bank transaction records had been carried out.
He said it was the suspicious role of a staff member in the accounts branch that prompted the corporation to lodge a police complaint, and that the investigation would bring everything to light.
Contacted by ThePrint, Sagarpreet Singh Hooda, Director General of Police, Chandigarh, said that the investigation was in progress, and no arrests had been made yet.
After the news broke, Chandigarh Mayor Saurabh Joshi directed Commissioner Amit Kumar to submit a detailed action-taken report (ATR) within five working days.
Speaking to the media, Joshi said that there would be zero compromise on public money.
Joshi also requested that all officials who monitored the bank accounts of Chandigarh Smart City Ltd during March–April 2025 be identified. He even recommended that an independent agency conduct a forensic audit of all CSCL accounts and financial transactions.
The Opposition Congress, meanwhile, has demanded a high-level probe into the matter.
Slamming the UT administration, Chandigarh Pradesh Congress President H.S. Lucky called the irregularity extremely serious and alarming. Speaking to the media, he said that the municipal corporation was already struggling financially—unable to pay salaries on time—which made a fraud of such a magnitude all the more shocking.
Lucky demanded a high-level, impartial inquiry, saying that whoever is found guilty, whether an official or a private individual, must face the strictest possible action.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)