IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank scam: CBI takes six accused on remand for three days
CBI further told the court that the accused are required to be confronted with the records and facts to further unearth the names of other accused persons
The CBI Special Court, Haryana, on Friday remanded six accused in the Rs 590 crore IDFC Bank and AU Small Finance Bank scam to three-day CBI custody.
The accused included Abhay Kumar, resident of Mohali, Ribhab Rishi, resident of Panchkula, Swati, resident of Mohali, Abhishek Singla, resident of Sector 63, Chandigarh, Naresh Kumar, resident of Mohali, and Manish Jindal, resident of Mohali.
CBI had registered the FIR on April 8 against “unknown” accused, based on the original FIR lodged by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SV&ACB) on February 23. According to the FIR, the case involves offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with charges of cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, fraudulent or dishonest use of forged documents, and criminal breach of trust under the BNS, 2023.
CBI told the court that as per the sections of law mentioned in the FIR, the maximum punishment is life imprisonment, so detention of accused can be allowed for 90 days as per Section 187 of the BNSS.
It added that a larger conspiracy exists involving unknown accused persons and a few of them have only been identified. CBI submitted that the accused persons, arrested by State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Panchkula, are believed to “possess crucial information pertinent to exposing the broader conspiracy orchestrating the opening of new accounts, transfer of funds from other accounts to accounts maintained with IDFC First and AU Small Finance banks, manipulation of bank records, creating fake and forged documents and siphoning off the government funds to shell companies”.
It added that the scam involved transfer of funds to multiple accounts through layering and then encashed, which was distributed to multiple people.
CBI further told the court that the accused are required to be confronted with the records and facts to further unearth the names of other accused persons, and hence their custodial interrogation was essential to unearth larger conspiracy. It asked for five-day custody.
Abhay Kumar and Ribhab Rishi remained in custody of SV&ACB for nine days each, while Swati, and Abhishek remained in custody for seven days’ reach and Naresh Kumar and Manish Jindal remained in custody for six days.
After the arguments, CBI Special Court allowed CBI custody for three days.
