IDFC First Bank fraud: For his ‘help’, key accused funded Haryana official’s Dubai, Bangkok trips, luxury hotel stay

4 min readChandigarhJul 11, 2026 12:15 PM IST

The CBI said that Ribhav Rishi, the then branch manager at IDFC First Bank, opened accounts of Haryana government departments without following the prescribed procedure. (File photo)

The CBI, which is investigating the multi-crore IDFC First Bank scam, has alleged that a key accused, Ribhav Rishi, paid for Haryana government official Naresh Kumar’s domestic and foreign trips, hotel stays and also gave him cash as quid pro quo for his role in the fraud.

Kumar, a Superintendent in Haryana’s Panchayat and Development Department, has already been arrested in the case.

According to the CBI, Ribhav Rishi, the then branch manager at IDFC First Bank’s Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh, along with other accused, opened accounts of Haryana government departments without following the prescribed procedure. The agency alleged that fake account details, forged cheque books and signed banking instruments were submitted to banks, allowing unauthorised transactions.

Also Read: CBI arrests 2 former bank officials in Rs 504-crore IDFC First fraud

In its chargesheet recently filed before a Panchkula court, the CBI alleged that Kumar acted as an active middleman between senior Panchayat Department officials and Ribhav Rishi, helping facilitate fraudulent operations involving the Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana accounts maintained with IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank.

The agency said Kumar’s role went well beyond simply facilitating the transactions. It alleged that he personally gave telephonic confirmations for fraudulent transactions and, in return, received substantial financial benefits.

According to the CBI, call detail record (CDR) analysis showed that the number of phone calls between Kumar and Ribhav Rishi increased significantly from March 2025, with the highest frequency recorded between October and December 2025, the period during which the alleged fraudulent transactions in the Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana accounts were at their peak.

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Also Read: IDFC First Bank scam: CBI arrests Haryana IAS officer Pradeep Kumar on day of superannuation

The chargesheet states that Kumar received Rs 1 crore through direct transfers from the proceeds of crime routed through M/s Swastik Desh Projects. The transfers included Rs 40 lakh on November 13, 2025, another Rs 40 lakh on November 15, Rs 10 lakh on November 27, and another Rs 10 lakh on the same day into his Union Bank and HDFC Bank accounts.

The CBI further alleged that Rs 25 lakh was paid directly from the AU Small Finance Bank account of M/s Swastik Desh Projects to an automobiles firm on December 6, 2025, for the purchase of a Toyota Fortuner in Kumar’s name. Investigators also alleged that Rs 10 lakh was transferred from the Swastik Desh Projects’s AU Small Finance Bank account into the HDFC Bank account of Kumar’s daughter on August 29, 2025.

Apart from these monetary benefits, the CBI alleged that Ribhav Rishi also bore the expenses of several trips and hotel stays for Kumar. These included a stay at JW Marriott, Jaipur costing Rs 20,000 on May 8-9, 2025; a family trip to Bangkok and Macao between August 12 and 17, 2025, costing Rs 2,29,010, which, according to the agency, was undertaken without departmental permission; a Mumbai trip on July 5-6, 2025, during which Kumar allegedly travelled with Ribhav Rishi, Abhay Kumar and Arun Sharma, with the booking linked to Rishi’s mobile number; travel from Hyderabad to Chandigarh on August 2, 2025, costing Rs 16,700, undertaken with his wife; a three-night stay at Hotel Novotel, Pune from August 19 to 22, 2025, costing Rs 1,13,000; and a stay at Dubai’s Hotel Jumeirah Burj Al Arab from November 21 to 24, 2025, costing Rs 7,16,055, which the CBI alleged was paid for by Ribhav Rishi through M/s Five Star Travel.

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The agency said these payments have been corroborated through travel agency records, hotel records and the tally accounts of M/s Divine Travels and M/s Five Star Travel.