Haryana Pollution Board Scam: CBI Arrests Senior Accounts Officer in ₹657 Crore IDFC First Bank Fraud Case

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The arrest of a senior accounts officer from the Haryana State Pollution Control Board has pushed the investigation into one of the region’s biggest financial frauds into a new phase, with investigators alleging that a secret bank account became the gateway for siphoning off crores of public money through shell companies and carefully concealed transactions.

Haryana Pollution Board officer arrested

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday arrested Parveen Kumar, who served as Senior Accounts Officer with the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), in connection with the massive ₹657 crore IDFC First Bank scam that has shaken administrative and financial circles in Haryana and Chandigarh.

Investigators believe Kumar played a pivotal role in creating the mechanism that allowed the fraud to flourish. According to the CBI, he opened an HSPCB bank account with IDFC First Bank’s Sector 32 branch in Chandigarh without obtaining departmental approval or maintaining any official record of its existence. The agency described the account as having been opened in a “clandestine manner” and alleged that it later became the channel through which fraudulent financial activities were carried out.

The account, investigators claim, was not simply an administrative irregularity but a deliberate arrangement designed to facilitate large-scale misappropriation of public funds. Money belonging to the pollution control board was allegedly withdrawn using cheques and debit notes before being diverted to shell entities that were controlled by the accused persons involved in the conspiracy.

The CBI further stated that while Parveen Kumar was the official signatory to the account, the mobile number linked to banking alerts and transactions belonged to another accused individual who was not employed by the department. Investigators suspect that this unusual arrangement was intended to ensure that transaction alerts remained outside the department’s official communication channels, reducing the chances of immediate detection.

The alleged fraud involving the HSPCB account forms a significant part of the broader ₹657 crore bank scam under investigation. According to the agency, ₹187.26 crore was siphoned from the account through multiple fraudulent debit transactions between March 13, 2025, and February 13, 2026. While credits amounting to ₹17.90 crore were later recorded in the account, the net financial loss to the pollution control board stood at ₹169.36 crore.

The latest arrest makes Parveen Kumar the third HSPCB official to be taken into custody in the case, underlining the widening scope of the investigation and the suspected involvement of multiple levels of the department’s financial administration.

Only days earlier, the CBI had arrested retired IAS officer Pardeep Kumar, who retired from service as Member Secretary of the HSPCB on June 30. Investigators allege that he evaded authorities after June 24 and remained untraceable for several days before officials located him through technical surveillance, call detail records, location tracking and local intelligence inputs.

The agency has accused the former bureaucrat of playing a decisive role in steering the board’s investments towards IDFC First Bank despite clear restrictions issued by the Haryana Finance Department. A circular dated July 12, 2024, had imposed a maximum investment limit of ₹50 crore for newly empanelled banks, including IDFC First Bank, while small finance banks faced an even lower ceiling of ₹25 crore.

According to investigators, Pardeep Kumar was fully aware of these restrictions yet continued concentrating funds in IDFC First Bank, pushing the board’s exposure well beyond ₹100 crore before the government eventually lifted the ₹50 crore cap in October 2025.

The CBI alleges that the investment process itself was manipulated to favour predetermined institutions. Investigators claim that Pardeep Kumar personally opened fixed deposit quotations received from banks, prepared comparison charts in his own notes and made investment recommendations without maintaining the transparency expected in public fund management.

Perhaps more troubling for investigators is the allegation that IDFC First Bank had already been excluded from the list of invited banks for certain investment opportunities. Despite this, quotations from the bank allegedly continued to appear in the decision-making process and were ultimately accepted.

One quotation cited by investigators reportedly carried no official stamp, branch identification or even the name of the bank official who signed it. The CBI believes this raises serious questions about whether the competitive bidding process existed merely on paper while actual decisions had already been made behind closed doors.

Investigators have also accused the former official of altering comparative assessments to make competing banks appear less attractive than IDFC First Bank. In another instance cited by the agency, surplus funds worth ₹8 crore were allegedly parked in the bank’s savings account without any competitive quotation process, based solely on an assumption that the bank offered the highest returns.

The investigation had first gathered momentum with the arrest of Data Entry Operator Saurav Sharma on June 23. The CBI alleges that Sharma helped process investment proposals in favour of private banks despite being aware of the financial limits prescribed by the Haryana Finance Department.

Investigators claim he deliberately omitted references to these limits from official records and communications, thereby helping create conditions that allowed deposits with IDFC First Bank to exceed authorised thresholds.

The scandal has triggered wider concerns over governance standards, internal checks and financial oversight mechanisms within public institutions entrusted with managing taxpayer money. Financial experts say the case highlights how even sophisticated rules and investment limits can fail if internal controls are bypassed by those responsible for enforcing them.

As the investigation continues, the CBI is expected to scrutinise additional financial records, transaction trails and communications linked to the alleged conspiracy. Officials are also examining the role of private entities that allegedly received diverted funds through the network of shell companies.

The case is rapidly emerging as one of the most significant public sector financial fraud investigations in Haryana in recent years, raising uncomfortable questions about accountability, institutional safeguards and the vulnerability of government funds to organised financial manipulation.