KPMG audit clears IDFC FIRST Bank's systems in ₹646 Cr fraud case

KPMG's forensic audit of the ₹646-crore fraud at IDFC FIRST Bank's Chandigarh branch has delivered the outcome depositors and investors needed to hear: no systemic compromise. The core banking system (CBS) remained intact throughout, and no similar incidents surfaced across the wider network.

The fraud itself was decidedly low-tech. A group of branch employees colluded with external third parties and employees of the customer—Haryana state government departments—to engineer the scheme. They used forged cheques, fake signatures, and synthetic documentation (including fabricated FD receipts) to bypass manual, branch-level authorization controls.