CBI Action: Panchkula Municipal Corporation Fund Scam, CBI arrests IAS officer R.K. Singh arrested

CBI Action: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the then Municipal Corporation Commissioner and IAS officer Ram Kumar Singh in the much talked about case related to alleged misuse of Panchkula Municipal Corporation (MC Panchkula) funds. According to the investigating agency, this action has been taken in the case of alleged embezzlement and fraud of government funds from the account of Municipal Corporation Panchkula in Chandigarh Sector-32 branch of IDFC First Bank.

Bank account opened ignoring rules

CBI investigation has revealed that the concerned bank account was opened in violation of the rules of the Finance Department of Haryana Government. It is alleged that such information was deliberately entered in the account opening documents so that future fraudulent financial transactions could be hidden.

Money sent to shell companies in the name of fixed deposit

According to the investigating agency, the then Commissioner R.K. Singh, in alleged collusion with the bank officials, had handed over several signed checks to the bank officials through middlemen. These checks were issued in the name of making fixed deposits (FD), but instead of investing the money in FD, they were withdrawn from the accounts and sent to shell companies controlled by bank officials.

Commissioner and senior accountant had full participation

CBI claims that this entire fraud was carried out with the knowledge and active participation of the then Commissioner and Senior Accountant of the Municipal Corporation. The senior accountant has already been arrested in the case. In the investigation so far, R.K. Singh was arrested after sufficient evidence was found of his alleged role. Besides, many important documents have also been recovered by conducting search operations at their premises in Chandigarh and Karnal.

Let us tell you that on the request of Haryana Government, CBI took over this investigation from State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. According to the investigation, government funds worth about Rs 79.46 crore were misused only in the case related to Municipal Corporation Panchkula.

A mega scam of Rs 500 crore came to light

This case is part of a larger financial scam unearthed in the Sector-32 branch of IDFC First Bank, in which approximately Rs 504 crore belonging to eight departments of the Haryana government was allegedly withdrawn through fake FDs and fake debit notes and transferred to various shell companies. CBI has so far filed chargesheet against 17 accused in this case. These include six bank officials of IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, three employees of Haryana government, two companies and six private individuals.

CBI charge sheet in two other cases of Chandigarh also

The investigating agency also said that it has also taken over the investigation of two other cases related to Chandigarh Union Territory. Of these, one case is related to Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) and the other is related to CREST Chandigarh. In the CSCL case, CBI has filed a charge sheet against five bank officials, one CSCL official and a private person. In the CREST case, chargesheet has been filed against five bank officials, two CREST officials, four private individuals and two companies. A senior IFoS officer has already been arrested in the CREST case. CBI has said that it is committed to bringing all the culprits involved in this entire network to justice and exposing the entire chain of misuse of government funds.