Mumbai, February 23 (IANS). IDFC First Bank shares hit lower circuit with 20 per cent fall on Monday. The reason for this is that a fraud of Rs 590 crore has come to light in the bank, which has allegedly been done by the employees of the Chandigarh branch of the bank.
At the beginning of the day, the stock opened at Rs 75.16, down 10 percent from the previous session’s closing of Rs 83.51. After this the fall continued to increase and it reached Rs 66.80 with a weakness of 20 percent.
However, there was recovery later and at 11:38 am it was at Rs 70.39 per share with a weakness of 15.71 per cent.
The bank said the issue is limited to a few accounts linked to the Haryana government in the Chandigarh branch. The bank has informed the regulators and lodged a police complaint. The bank has also suspended four officers pending investigation.
“Prima facie, it appears that unauthorized and fraudulent activities have been carried out in certain accounts of Haryana State Government by certain employees at a particular branch in Chandigarh, possibly in collaboration with other persons/entities/associates,” the bank said in a filing to the stock exchanges.
According to estimates by independent brokerage firms, the suspected fraud amounts to about 0.9 per cent of the bank’s total assets and 20 per cent of its pre-tax profit for FY26.
Meanwhile, the Haryana government has removed IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank from government business with immediate effect until further orders, according to an official circular.
In this, all departments, boards, corporations and public sector undertakings have been directed to stop using these banks for deposits, investments or any other financial transactions.
The officials have also been asked to immediately transfer the balances existing in these two banks and close the accounts.
The Finance Department drew attention to the shortcomings in following the instructions related to fixed deposits. The department found that in some cases, funds meant to be deposited in flexible deposit schemes or fixed deposit schemes with high interest rates were allegedly kept in savings accounts, resulting in low interest earned and financial loss to the state.
Departments have been directed to strictly adhere to the approved deposit terms, regularly verify compliance by banks, conduct monthly reconciliation and report any discrepancies.
All reconciliations must be completed by March 31, 2026 and a certified compliance report must be submitted by April 4, 2026.
–IANS
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