A day after arresting Indian Forest Officer Navneet Srivastava in the bank fraud case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has now arrested Ram Kumar Singh, IAS officer, who was the then Commissioner, Municipal Corporation (MC), Panchkula, in connection with the misappropriation of government funds from the account of MC Panchkula maintained with the Sector 32, Chandigarh branch of IDFC First Bank.
RK Singh is a 2012 batch IAS officer, promote from state civil services. He is due to retire in November 2027.
What was the modus operandi?
According to CBI, the said account was opened in sheer violation of the guidelines of the Finance Department, Government of Haryana. The details recorded in the account opening form were entered fraudulently to hide the transactions intended to be carried out subsequently.
Investigations revealed that RK Singh handed over multiple signed cheques to the bank officials under the understanding that the accused officials of IDFC First Bank, would divert the fund in the guise of opening Fixed Deposits. No fixed deposits were created and the entire amount was transferred to shell entities controlled and operated by the accused bank officials.
The misappropriation was carried out with the knowledge and active participation of the then Commissioner and the Senior Accountant of MC Panchkula.
CBI has made arrests
The CBI has already arrested a senior accountant in this case. The investigation so far has revealed RK Singh's active involvement. His residences in Chandigarh and Karnal have also been searched and several incriminating documents have been recovered.
The fraud at MC Panchkula involved misappropriation of approximately Rs 79.46 crore. This was part of a larger scam at the Sector 32 IDFC First Bank branch, where funds totalling Rs 504 crores from eight Haryana Government departments were siphoned off. These funds were siphoned through forged or non-existent Fixed Deposits and Debit notes and routed to shell entities.
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