Chandigarh, March 13 (NationPress) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) executed searches at 19 locations in Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, Gurgaon, and Bangalore linked to the IDFC First Bank scandal, which involves the misappropriation of public funds totaling Rs 597 crore, according to an official statement released on Friday.

During these operations, over 90 bank accounts were frozen, and significant incriminating evidence, including both digital and documentary materials, was confiscated, as per the ED's announcement.

The Chandigarh Zonal Office of the ED reported that the funds were misappropriated from accounts belonging to the Haryana Government, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, and additional government agencies.

The investigation, initiated under the PMLA, 2002, stemmed from an FIR filed by the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in Panchkula in February 2026, concerning discrepancies in the bank account balances of the Development and Panchayat Department of Haryana, held at IDFC Bank and AU Small Finance Bank.

These funds, intended for a fixed deposit with the bank, were illicitly diverted by the accused without any authorization, the ED stated.

The search operations targeted former bank employees, including Ribhav Rishi and Abhay Kumar, along with their relatives, and various beneficiary shell corporations, such as M/s. Swastik Desh Projects, M/s. Capco Fintech Services, M/s. Maa Vaibhav Laxmi Interiors, and M/s. SRR Planning Gurus Private Limited, along with jewellers like Sawan Jewellers and real estate developers including Vikram Wadhwa and his associated businesses.

Evidence gathered during the searches indicated that the embezzled public funds had been funneled through multiple shell companies.

The ED outlined that the modus operandi of the accused involved setting up a shell company, Swastik Desh Projects, and initially diverting government funds into its accounts.

The partners behind Swastik Desh are Swati Singla and Abhishek Singla. Subsequently, most of the diverted funds were funneled through jewellers’ bank accounts, creating the facade of gold purchases via fraudulent invoices, as reported by the ED.

This fraudulent scheme has reportedly been active for about a year, with the support of former bank employees, the ED noted.

Ribhav Rishi, one of the former employees from IDFC First Bank, allegedly exploited various shell companies to embezzle bank funds, as indicated by the ED.

Rishi resigned from IDFC First Bank in June 2025. Some of the Proceeds of Crime were even traced to the bank accounts of Ribhav Rishi and his wife, Divya Arora, according to the ED.

Additionally, a significant amount was also misappropriated by Vikram Wadhwa, a hotelier and real estate developer managing several projects in Mohali, as stated by the ED.

Wadhwa has allegedly received the Proceeds of Crime directly into his bank account and has since transferred these funds to various real estate entities, including Prisma Residency LLP, Kinspire Realty LLP, and Martell Buildwell LLP.

All these businesses were included in the searches, with documents related to real estate investments also seized, as reported.

It was discovered that he utilized the services of Sawan Jewellers, Capco Fintech Services (Bhupinder Singh), Klaita Jewellers, and shell companies like Swastik Desh Projects to carry out the embezzlement of bank funds, the ED stated.

Wadhwa was not located during the search operations and has been absconding since the fraud became public knowledge, the ED reported.

Investigations further revealed that substantial funds received by Chandigarh Mega Store were also layered and misappropriated by the accused, according to the ED statement.

One of the store's partners, Mohit Goyal, was also investigated during the searches, with evidence related to the misappropriation of funds being recovered by the ED.

Searches were also conducted at other entities such as Maa Vaibhav Laxmi Interiors and SRR Planning Gurus, revealing that these organizations had directly received funds from government accounts, which were later layered and dissipated to other shell entities currently under investigation, the ED stated.