New Delhi: IDFC First Bank on Tuesday said it has paid out 100 per cent of the principal and interest to the relevant departments of the Haryana government, which works out to Rs 583 crore.
“The bank remains committed to working together with the relevant Haryana Government departments and the law enforcement agencies to pursue actions against the perpetrators of the fraud and looks forward to recovering our dues,” IDFC First Bank said in a regulatory filing.
It further said even though the investigation into the matter is ongoing, the bank has paid out 100 per cent of the principal and interest to the relevant departments of the Haryana Government as claimed, which works out to a net amount of Rs 583 crore.
Earlier in the day, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini informed the Assembly that the state government had recovered nearly Rs 556 crore owed to it in the IDFC First Bank case.
“Nearly Rs 556 crore, including nearly Rs 22 crore in interest, came back within 24 hours,” Saini said in the House.
Private sector IDFC First Bank on Sunday disclosed a Rs 590-crore fraud committed by certain employees and others at a particular branch in Chandigarh in a specific set of Haryana state government accounts.
“I want to clarify before the House that the money concerning Haryana government departments, the entire amount has been deposited back into our accounts…The recovery has been made within 24 hours,” Saini said.
He said the bank had apprised the government that the incident primarily involved a particular branch of the bank in Chandigarh, involving four to five bank employees of middle and lower rung who colluded in the whole thing.
The government will ensure that anybody who is involved – be it a bank employee, private individual or even a government employee — will not be spared, the chief minister said.
IDFC First Bank had said that the fraud is “confined to a specific group of government-linked accounts within the Haryana government” operated through the said branch in Chandigarh”, and stressed that it does not extend to other customers of the Chandigarh branch.
On Saturday, IDFC First Bank informed exchanges that it had received a request from a Haryana government department for the closure of its account at a Chandigarh branch and transfer of funds to another bank.
In the process, the bank observed differences in the balances in the account and the balances mentioned by the Haryana government department. The discrepancy observed was of Rs 490 crore, and an additional Rs 100 crore was identified by the bank, taking the total discrepancy amount to Rs 590 crore.
Following the episode, the Haryana government de-empanelled AU Small Finance Bank, along with IDFC First Bank, from undertaking any government business over alleged fraudulent opening of accounts.
