The money has not been returned yet. The bank hasn’t recovered it AFAIK. They returned the lost money to the customer, but yet to recover it.
The money has not been recovered from those that stole it (please provide any credible source). Haryana Govt has has been made good the lost money from IDFC First which has paid it out of shareholder’s money. If you are a shareholder, your money was used to pay the money stolen by the thieves.
I found an Indian Express report that laid out the scam in some detail that it was when Haryana Govt asked on 13 January 2026 “…directed both banks to close their accounts and transfer the funds along with interest to Axis Bank. AU Small Finance Bank complied, transferring nearly Rs 25.46 crore to Axis Bank on January 16, 2026. However, the report highlighted that “IDFC First Bank transferred only nearly Rs 1.27 crore to Axis Bank and proceeded to close the account, despite the closure request clearly specifying that an amount of Rs 50 crore along with accrued interest was to be transferred.”
It was only when Haryana Govt dug deeper by asking “….IDFC First Bank to submit “the account opening form, log details and voucher details of all the transactions,” which the bank provided on February 16.”
Further,
The committee (not IDFC First) found multiple cheques and debit notes processed by the bank, observing that “these cheques, prima facie, bear forged signatures of the then Director General, Sh. DK Behera (an IAS officer), despite the fact that he had relinquished charge on 28.10.2025.” It further noted, “The debit notes attached with the cheques do not have any Memo No, or dispatch number and they again seem to contain forged signatures.” One cheque was particularly alarming: “It has also been observed that one of the cheques processed by the Bank mentions the amount in figures as Rs 2,50,00,000/- (two crore fifty lakh), whereas the amount in words is written as ‘Rupees Twenty-Five,’ which has been honoured and processed by the bank indicating a serious discrepancy,” the report stated, alleging it “appears to be an established act of malafide intention.”
It looked to me that IDFC First did not do much of its own accord proactively.
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I know that the money was actually paid by the bank from its own profits. But IDFC FIRST Bank returned the money within 24 hours. Meanwhile, the Haryana Chief Minister used the word “recover,” which created the impression among the general public that the money had been recovered from the culprits.
However, people who are closely following this episode in detail know that the money was paid by the bank itself. Most of the general public, though, believes that the money has been recovered.
Because of this, it appears that the bank is trying to present itself in a clean light — which could also be considered a smart move from a strategic perspective.
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This quarter result will be a total washout, for obvious reasons. How deep the damage goes, we will know.
l hope CASA doesn’t slow down.
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If they make a considerable recovery, I don’t think it will be a washout. They returned the money to the govt, so govt will probable use all it’s might to recover the money. Share price is around 70, so the damage was decently contained I believe.
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It seems that the bank itself does not have its basics clear about how to run operations properly. One fraud after another is coming out. Yesterday it was the Haryana Government’s money, and today it is the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation’s funds — ₹116.84 crore — involving a fake FD receipt. If this can happen with government funds, then one can only imagine what might be happening with common people. There could be many fake FD receipts in the system, and there is no clear information about it.
The day may not be far when another big fraud surfaces involving retail customers’ money through fake receipts. At that point, I don’t know how many audits will be required, how much provisioning will have to be done, and what will happen to the bank’s so-called world-class image.
With such incidents, even the core business can come under question — how employees are sanctioning loans, what kind of controls are in place, and whether the internal systems are reliable. There is a lot of uncertainty in the business right now.
Disclaimer: With great disappointment, I have sold my 100% holding today. It feels better to move away from this type of stock where the level of uncertainty is so high.
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From the reports so far, it seems the bank may not be liable in this case. Unlike the earlier case where it cleared fraudulent cheques, in this case it seems the very person empowered by the MC to handle the accounts was defrauding the MC. So while the earlier case was like someone else withdrawing without the account holder’s involvement, this case is more like the account holder being conned into handing over the OTP for a transaction.
Of course this assessment may change based on more information, but so far this is what seems to be the case.
We need more info about the transactions here. The question arises if the transfer (from CSCL accounts) was done by exploiting the bank’s process or by persons authorised by the MC. In case of the former the bank would be held liable but in case of the latter it is totally an issue on the side of the MC.
So total amount is 645 crores, for now, as management can’t be trusted anymore,
I just hope it includes 116 crores which is in news…
9f9237e8-6c2d-4f63-8414-2e20b7ebf3da.pdf (248.9 KB)
It clearly states that it only includes the earlier incident of 590cr which was the principal. the addition 55cr is the interest to the same.
It further says no no other claims from any other entity across the country.So they are is either not considering the 116cr as liability or wasn’t known until the submission of this report.
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old adage ‘certainly not the last cockroach in the kitchen’ becoming true
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IDFC first bank notification to the exchanges
notification-idfcfb.pdf (259.7 KB)
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Can of worms has just opened, you will come to know at a later date only, this looks a systematic fraud and running at several branches. Yes bank was ok till RBI wiped out all AT 1 bonds.
Where is the news of any other fraud at any other branch, please share the link…
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All reports so far name one branch and the accused is the manager of the same. What basis are you claiming “systematic” and “running at several branches”?
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I am invested and hence biased, so please read my comments with that in mind.
Regarding the fraud issue, I think we should rely more on the bank’s disclosures rather than media/other sources. Reason being,
- The bank is proactive in letting everyone know if there is an issue, and is conservative by taking the provisions upfront at the cost of hitting its profits in the short term.
- There are too many “other sources” which may be looking at from a specific angle/side, and may not cover the developments holistically. This gives an impression that this is a new issue, while it is the same issue which the bank itself disclosed on day 1, and now many people are posting some nuggets/snippets of the same story, but feels like it is another fraud.
Also, I feel this fraud is something which even people from the govt. side will be involved, and may not be just the bank’s ex-employee’s doing, but if any recovery will be possible is a big question.
This episode reminded me of the “Salad oil scandal” where American Express was involved, where the bank got impacted without its fault, but it recovered because it was a sound business.
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Kotak also involved in similar scam. RBI getting involved.
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Key takeaways for me,
- No discrepancy in govt. accounts in any other branch in entire country.
- Deposits are not impacted much.
- Disappointing to hear that bank will reach only near 1% ROA at the end of F.Y. 27 i.e. PAT of only 4000-4500 crores….I remember Vaidyanathan promising 1.4% kind of ROA in their now withdrawn guidance 2.0….there is a huge difference between 1 and 1.4