CBI files another chargesheet against 19 accused for misappropriation of Haryana govt funds

Panchkula: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday filed a chargesheet, the third one, in the court of the Special Judge dealing with CBI cases here against 19 accused in the case relating to misappropriation of Haryana government funds totalling Rs 504 crore maintained at IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank.

The latest one was filed against six Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers of Haryana Cadre, three officers of IDFC First Bank and one officer of AU Small Finance Bank, and nine other officials of the state government for offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, destruction of evidence, forgery, using false documents as genuine, falsification of accounts, criminal breach of trust and abetment under BNS and for offences of bribery and criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI said the investigation established that the accused public servants, in connivance with the accused bankers of IDFC First and AU Small Finance Banks, orchestrated and executed the fraudulent scheme in a planned sequence. The funds of eight government departments from various empanelled banks were transferred into specific branches of both banks where the accused bank officers are working as part of the conspiracy by opening the bank accounts in the bank branches. In this process, the guidelines of the State Finance Department on financial prudence and fraud prevention were violated.

The funds from these accounts were misappropriated through fraudulent means and transferred to third parties who were not connected with government departments. The amounts so transferred were layered through multiple bank accounts and converted into cash, and the accused wrongfully enriched themselves, said the CBI.

Eight departments and organisations of the government — the Department of Panchayat, the Municipal Corporations of Panchkula and Kalka, the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP), the Haryana Labour Welfare Board (HLWB), the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB), the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) and the Haryana Power Generation Corp Ltd (HPGCL) were affected by this scam.

The CBI had taken over the investigation from the state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau at the request of the state government.

Earlier, the CBI had chargesheeted 18 other accused in this case, which included bank officials of IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, public servants of the government, private individuals and private companies.

With the filing of Wednesday’s chargesheet, the total number of people chargesheeted in the case rose to 37.

The agency has conducted 54 searches and seized incriminating evidence, including gold worth Rs 20 crore in this case and arrested 26 accused so far.

The CBI has also taken over two other related cases from Chandigarh, one pertaining to Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) and another of the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh and the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST). The chargesheets have already been filed in both these cases. All three cases would remain under further investigation against other suspects and accused.

–IANS

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