A local court has sent Nalini Malik, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Smart City Company Limited (CSCL), to judicial custody in connection with the ₹116 crore Chandigarh municipal corporation fraud. She was the first government official to be held in the case since it surfaced on March 8. She was arrested on April 2 after a complaint filed by MC officials on March 9.
She was produced in court on Monday where the prosecution requested that she be sent to judicial custody.
The case pertains to the alleged siphoning of ₹116 crore belonging to municipal corporation (MC) and CSCL through fake fixed deposit receipts (FDRs), which came to light last month when the civic body approached the bank seeking withdrawal or transfer of invested funds.
During the hearing on Thursday, investigators told the court that Malik, along with other MC officials, allegedly received over ₹50 crore in cash from siphoned public funds, pointing to a well-oiled conspiracy.
According to police, the fraud traces back to March 2025, when CSCL was merged with MC. Serving as CFO of CSCL at the time, Malik was part of the official team tasked with handing over financial records and accounts to the civic body.
Investigators said as part of closing the company and consolidating its finances, a fresh MC account was opened in IDFC First Bank to pool all funds held by CSCL in different accounts. However, only ₹81.20 crore were traced, despite ₹95.78 crore being due for transfer from CSCL.
Police alleged that Malik, in collusion with accountant Anubhav Mishra, other officials and bank staff, orchestrated the creation of 11 forged FDRs to conceal the missing funds.
