ED raids 19 places in ₹597 crore money laundering case, 90 bank accounts frozen

Updated: 13-03-2026, 04.18 PM

The ED on Friday said it has frozen 90 bank accounts and incriminating material in the form of digital and documentary evidence during searches conducted on March 12 at 19 premises in Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab and Bengaluru. This action was part of the raids conducted in Chandigarh, Mohali in Punjab, Panchkula and Gurgaon in Haryana and Karnataka capital Bengaluru in connection with the IDFC First Bank scam. In this scam, public funds amounting to Rs 597 crore belonging to Haryana Government, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and other government accounts were embezzled.

“An amount of Rs 597 crore was to be kept as fixed deposits in the bank. However, the accused misused these government funds without permission,” the ED said. The search operation included former employees of the bank, Ribhav Rishi and Abhay Kumar, their family members, beneficiary shell entities, such as Swastik Desh Projects, Capco Fintech Services and Maa Vaibhav Lakshmi Interiors, SRR Planning Gurus Pvt Ltd, jewellers, such as Sawan Jewelers and real estate developers such as Vikram Wadhwa and their business entities.

Complaint was filed last month

ED had started investigation on the FIR registered in February 2026. In this FIR, it was said that there was a mismatch of the balance in the bank account of Haryana’s Development and Panchayat Department in IDFC Bank and AU Small Finance Bank. Investigation has revealed that the public funds embezzled by the accused have been diverted through several fake companies. The modus operandi involved formation of a fake company named Swastik Desh Projects Private Limited and initially huge amounts of government funds were transferred into this account.

tricked into buying gold

The ED said, “Most of the funds were transferred through the bank accounts of jewelers to create the illusion of purchase of gold by fake bills. This scam was being carried out with the help of former bank employees for the last about a year. Ribhav Rishi, one of the former employees of IDFC First Bank, used various shell companies to embezzle the bank’s funds. He had resigned from IDFC First Bank in June 2025. Crime Some of the money received was also transferred to the bank accounts of Ribhav Rishi and his wife Divya Arora.”

Real estate businessman also accused

Hotelier and real estate developer Vikram Wadhwa, who runs several projects in Mohali, also embezzled huge amounts of money, the ED said. “Vikram Wadhwa received the proceeds of crime directly into his bank account and subsequently transferred this amount to various real estate companies such as Prisma Residency LLP, Kinspire Realty LLP and Martel Buildwell LLP. All these entities were searched and documents related to real estate investments were also seized. It was found that he had transferred funds to Savan Jewellers, Capco Fintech Services, Clyta to embezzle the bank money. Had taken the help of fake companies like Jewelers and Swastik Desh Projects.

searched many institutions

Vikram Wadhwa could not be traced during the search operation and is absconding after the fraud was exposed. ED said that investigation has also revealed that a huge amount of money received by an organization named Chandigarh Mega Store was siphoned off by the accused. “Mohit Goyal, partner of the store, was also caught during the search and evidence related to misappropriation of funds was recovered,” the ED said. Searches were also conducted on other entities like Maa Vaibhav Lakshmi Interiors and SRR Planning Gurus Private Limited, which found that these entities had received funds directly from government accounts and later transferred the same to other fake entities, which are under investigation.