IDFC First Bank Uncovers ₹590 Crore Fraud at Chandigarh Branch

IDFC First Bank has reported unauthorized and fraudulent activities amounting to approximately ₹590 crore in Haryana government-linked accounts at its Chandigarh branch. The bank has suspended four employees pending investigation and is appointing an independent external agency to conduct a forensic audit.

The irregularities were discovered following a request from a Haryana government department to close its account and transfer funds to another bank. During this process, discrepancies were noted between the stated amounts and the actual account balances. Subsequent engagements with other Haryana government entities revealed further inconsistencies.

The bank has filed a complaint with the police and is cooperating fully with the investigating agencies. It has also sent recall requests to certain beneficiary banks to mark liens on suspicious accounts.

According to the bank, the fraudulent activities are confined to a specific group of government-linked accounts within the Haryana government operated through the Chandigarh branch and do not extend to other customers of the branch.