CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government has suspended two IAS officers in connection with the alleged Rs 590 crore IDFC First and AU Small Finance Bank scam, marking the first action taken against senior government officials as the investigation intensifies.
Sources said suspension orders were issued for Ram Kumar Singh, a 2012-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, who was posted as Additional CEO of the Panchkula Metropolitan Development Authority and in the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, for his alleged role in the scam.
Pardeep Kumar, a 2011-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, who was posted as Director of State Transport and Special Secretary to the Transport Department, was also suspended for his alleged role in the scam.
The orders were issued by Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi. During the suspension period, the headquarters of both officers will be at the office of the Chief Secretary to the Government of Haryana (Services-I Branch) in Chandigarh.
Separate orders regarding their suspension were issued by the Chief Secretary, though no reason was cited for the action against the two officers, who were promoted from the state civil service to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
Singh was posted as Municipal Commissioner of Panchkula from July 10 last year to January 28 this year, during which the alleged misappropriation of funds took place in the civic body.
Kumar had served as Member Secretary of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board from August 31, 2022, to December 10 last year; the banking transactions of this period of HSPCB are now under scrutiny.
Highly placed sources claimed that the names of these officers figured in the ongoing investigations being carried out by the Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau into the IDFC First Bank scam for their alleged links with other accused already arrested in the case.
Official records reveal that they own properties worth crores. Singh owns properties worth Rs 3.22 crore, generating an annual income of Rs 19 lakh, while Kumar owns joint assets with his wife worth Rs 7.03 crore.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau has already arrested several IDFC First Bank employees in the case. The Haryana government has also referred the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The state government has also de-empanelled Kotak Mahindra Bank from handling any government-related financial transactions. The Finance Department has issued a circular to all departments directing them to stop operations with the bank.
Departments have been asked to transfer existing balances and close accounts held with Kotak Mahindra Bank. This action was taken as it is linked to the alleged misappropriation of Rs 160 crore in fixed deposits belonging to the Panchkula Municipal Corporation.
Last month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it had frozen 90 bank accounts following searches in a money laundering case linked to the IDFC First Bank scam, in which nearly Rs 590 crore of Haryana government funds are alleged to have been siphoned off.
The apex agency stated that the alleged fraud involved the use of multiple shell companies and bogus billing for gold purchases.
