CBI charge sheet names 13 in Rs 75 crore bank fraud involving Chandigarh funds

Chandigarh, June 16 (IANS) The CBI on Tuesday filed a charge sheet against 13 accused, including two public servants and five IDFC First Bank officials, in a Special Court here in connection with the misappropriation of Rs 75.34 crore from the account of Chandigarh Renewable Energy Science and Technical Promotion Society (CREST).

The accused have been charge sheeted for offences of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, destruction of evidence, and offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, the CBI said.

The 13 accused named in the charge sheet include five bank officials of IDFC First Bank, two public servants of the CREST (Chandigarh UT Administration), two shell entities, along with four private persons, the CBI said in a statement.

The CBI said all the accused are presently under judicial custody.

In other IDFC Bank fraud matters, the CBI has till now filed two charge sheets in Haryana’s case against 17 accused and one charge sheet in the case pertaining to Chandigarh Smart City Project against seven accused.

The CREST case pertains to the misappropriation of government funds to the tune of Rs 75.34 crore, siphoned off from its bank accounts by IDFC First Bank officials in criminal connivance with public servants of the Society.

The siphoned off funds were then diverted in connivance with several private persons who have also benefited from these funds, the CBI said.

It may be recalled that CBI has taken over three such cases, one from the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Haryana, relating to eight departments of the Haryana government, and two cases from the Economic Offences Police Station, Chandigarh, pertaining to Chandigarh Smart City Ltd. and CREST Chandigarh.

The statement said that in the two charge sheets filed in connection with the Haryana government-related case, the federal agency has slapped charges of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy, among others, against 17 accused.

The lone charge sheet filed earlier by the federal probe agency in the case pertaining to the Chandigarh Smart City Project named seven accused persons.

The CBI said that the investigation into the IDFC Bank fraud is still on and more charge sheets may be filed in future, if needed.

–IANS

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