Ribhav Rishi, a former manager, and Abhay Kumar, a former relationship manager at IDFC First Bank's Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh were arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. A Special PMLA Court has sent both to ED custody till May 21, 2026.
ED's investigation has detected alleged embezzlement of ₹645 crore from accounts maintained with the bank by the Haryana Government, Chandigarh UT Administration, and two private schools in Chandigarh and Panchkula. The agency has alleged that shell entities were used to route, layer and siphon off these funds.
The investigation has been broadened significantly. ED conducted searches at 19 premises across Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, Gurugram and Bengaluru. More than 90 bank accounts have been frozen as part of the money-laundering probe.
The arrests point to systemic gaps in branch-level oversight and transaction monitoring. Shell entity routing and layering of public-sector funds suggests inadequate verification mechanisms at the point of account maintenance and fund movement.
