Chandigarh [India], February 23 : Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda has questioned the state government over the Rs 590 crore fraud in one of IDFC First Bank branches in Chandigarh and asked what action it has taken.
"What action did the Haryana government take?....the Haryana government should be capable of finding out the culprit in the case in a day...," Hooda, who is Leader of Opposition, said in the state assembly.
Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said the state government is taking the matter seriously.
"We have been proactive in catching this fraud... When some glitches were noted, we asked for statements, and those, too, did not match. Therefore, the government decided to transfer all the money to an authorised bank, with interest... IDFC First Bank wrote a letter to SEBI in its defence, saying an employee was at fault," the Chief Minister said.
"We transferred the matter to the Anti-Corruption Bureau and Vigilance Department. The investigation is going on... the money is completely safe, and it will definitely come back. Appropriate action will be taken against those found guilty, and even the bank if it is at fault. The matter surfaced on social media recently, we have investigated the case till the ground level... I assure the House that all the money will come back... I can make any statement only after the investigation...," the CM stated.
Congress MLA Ashok Arora also levelled accusations against the state government, alleging that "Haryana's funds were misused for personal gains."
"It should definitely be investigated why government funds were deposited in private banks despite RBI guidelines. Somewhere, Haryana's funds were misused for personal gain," he argued.
Additionally, Former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala has said that he will be meeting the Governor to demand a judicial inquiry into the matter.
"A new scam has come to light in the state today. Rs 590 crore was transferred to different accounts. We will soon meet the Governor and demand a judicial inquiry into this," Chautala said.
IDFC FIRST Bank has suspended four employees after it discovered fraudulent activity involving approximately Rs 590 crore in certain Haryana government accounts at its Chandigarh branch, the bank said in its official stock exchange filing.
The bank has launched an investigation and plans to recover the funds through legal and disciplinary action.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra has said the Rs 590 crore fraud reported at one of the IDFC First Bank branches is not a systemic kind of issue, and the central bank is watching the developments.