New Delhi, February 24 IDFC First Bank said on Tuesday that it has paid out 100% of the principal and interest to the relevant departments of the Haryana government, which amounts to ₹583 crore.
"The bank remains committed to working together with the relevant Haryana Government departments and law enforcement agencies to pursue action against those responsible for the fraud and looks forward to recovering our dues," IDFC First Bank said in a regulatory filing.
It further stated that, despite the ongoing investigation, the bank has paid out 100% of the principal and interest to the relevant departments of the Haryana Government as claimed, which amounts to a net amount of ₹583 crore.
Earlier in the day, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini informed the Assembly that the state government had recovered nearly ₹556 crore owed to it in the IDFC First Bank case.
"Nearly ₹556 crore, including nearly ₹22 crore in interest, has been recovered within 24 hours," Saini said in the House.
Private sector IDFC First Bank disclosed on Sunday that certain employees and others at a particular branch in Chandigarh had committed a ₹590-crore fraud involving specific accounts of the Haryana state government.
"I want to clarify before the House that the money concerning Haryana government departments has been fully deposited back into our accounts...The recovery has been made within 24 hours," Saini said.
He said the bank had informed the government that the incident primarily involved a particular branch of the bank in Chandigarh, involving four to five bank employees from middle and lower rungs who were involved in the entire scheme.
The government will ensure that anyone involved – be it a bank employee, a private individual, or even a government employee – will not go unpunished, the chief minister said.
IDFC First Bank had stated that the fraud was "confined to a specific group of government-linked accounts within the Haryana government" operated through the said branch in Chandigarh, and emphasized 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 to close its account at a Chandigarh branch and transfer funds to another bank.
In the process, the bank observed discrepancies in the balances in the account and the balances mentioned by the Haryana government department. The discrepancy observed was of ₹490 crore, and an additional ₹100 crore was identified by the bank, taking the total discrepancy amount to ₹590 crore.
Following the episode, the Haryana government de-empaneled AU Small Finance Bank, along with IDFC First Bank, from undertaking any government business over alleged fraudulent opening of accounts.
