Chandigarh: UT Police have moved an application before a Panchkula court seeking production warrants for three accused — Abhay Kumar, Seema Dhiman and Rishav Rishi — in two major bank fraud cases involving transactions of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society (Crest). The cases relate to alleged irregularities in transactions worth Rs 116 crore of the MC Chandigarh and Rs 75 crore linked to Crest accounts maintained with IDFC First Bank. The application for their production was filed on Friday, and hearing has been scheduled for next week. Police, however, said they would request the court to advance the hearing date.A day earlier, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of UT Police registered another FIR against the same three accused — Seema Dhiman, Abhay Kumar and Rishav Rishi — for allegedly embezzling Rs 75 crore belonging to Crest. The FIR, registered on the complaint of the Crest project director on behalf of the CEO, invokes sections 316(5), 318(4), 336(3), 338, 340(2) and 61(2) of BNS. The complaint names IDFC First bank employees Abhay Kumar, Seema Dhiman, Rishav Rishi and others for carrying out unauthorised withdrawals and deposits from Crest bank accounts.During reconciliation of internal records with original bank statements, Crest officials detected 303 unauthorised withdrawal and deposit entries. This resulted in a principal shortfall of over Rs 75 crore, according to police. They added that the roles of additional bank officials are also being examined.The Crest case adds to a separate ongoing investigation into suspicious transactions detected in the accounts of Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL). In that matter, alleged fake fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) worth Rs 116.84 crore and mismatches of Rs 8.22 crore surfaced during verification. Following the closure of the CSCL project in March 2025, its assets and financial records were transferred to the MC. During consolidation of records, the MC commissioner found that FDRs shown in documents did not exist in the bank’s system.These FDRs were allegedly issued in March and April 2025 by then IDFC First Bank, Sector 32 branch manager, Rishav Rishi, who is currently in the custody of the Haryana Vigilance Bureau. MC’s outsourced accountant, Anubhav Mishra, who handled CSCL’s financial paperwork, is also under scrutiny and has been untraceable. Police teams are searching for him.Meanwhile, Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau is probing suspicious transactions amounting to Rs 590 crore across several state departments. Chandigarh-based businessman and alleged middleman Vikram Wadhwa is believed to be a key conspirator. Chandigarh Police suspect possible links between the accused in both cases and have seized a Range Rover registered in Wadhwa’s name.However, in an official release, Crest maintained that no financial irregularity had been found. No financial irregularity has been found within Crest. The audit has been completed up to March 31, 2025, and the accounts had already been reconciled up to Nov 2025. However, on Feb 22, 2026, through various media reports, it came to notice that IDFC First Bank was allegedly involved in fraudulent activities relating to certain government-linked bank accounts of the govt of Haryana, involving approximately Rs 590 crore, the release said. It added, in view of the seriousness of the matter, Crest immediately initiated reconciliation of its bank accounts maintained with the said bank. Accordingly, vide letter No. CREST/02/2026/5240 dated 23.02.2026, Crest sought confirmation of balances in its three bank accounts maintained with IDFC First Bank.Subsequently, vide letter dated Feb 24 2026, the bank confirmed that the balances in accounts matched with the cash books of Crest. Further, on Feb 25, IDFC First Bank issued a balance confirmation certificate on the request of Crest, confirming balances in Crest accounts as per Crest records.As per the release, no financial loss has occurred to Crest or to the Chandigarh administration, and the entire funds remain available in the Crest bank accounts.A Committee constituted by the Chandigarh administration is already inquiring into the matter to examine whether any procedural lapse occurred on the part of Crest. It was stated that Crest is cooperating with the inquiry and providing all required records and information as and when sought. Findings of the committee are still awaited.Considering the seriousness of the matter and in compliance with the advisory issued by the finance department Feb 25, 2026, funds lying with IDFC First Bank were transferred to Punjab National Bank on Feb 27, 2026.MSID:: 129558173 413 |
