IDFC First Bank Pays Rs 583 Cr To Haryana Govt

'...even though the investigation in the matter is ongoing, we have paid 100 per cent of the principal and interest to relevant departments of the Haryana government.'

IDFC First Bank said on Tuesday that it has paid the entire principal and interest, amounting to Rs 583 crore, to relevant departments of the Haryana government.

And it is working with state authorities and law enforcement agencies to pursue action against the perpetrators of a fraud and recover the dues.

'...even though the investigation in the matter is ongoing, we have paid 100 per cent of the principal and interest to relevant departments of the Haryana government as claimed. This works out to a net amount of Rs 583 crore,' IDFC First Bank said in an exchange filing.

'We are building a world-class bank in India with strong governance and ethics and will emerge stronger from this incident,' IDFC First Bank added.

Over the weekend, the bank reported a Rs 590 crore fraud at a Chandigarh branch that handled Haryana government accounts.

The fraud was discovered after a government department sought to close its account with the bank and transfer the funds to another lender.

However, the amount mentioned by the department did not match the balance in the account.

IDFC First's management classified this as an 'isolated' incident arising from alleged collusion between its employees and external parties, with funds transferred to beneficiaries outside the bank.

The employees have been suspended and the bank has engaged KPMG to conduct a forensic audit.

KPMG is expected to submit its report in the next four-five weeks.

'Our bank always upholds the highest principles and standards. We call ourselves a customer-first bank in the way we define our product policies, disclosures, and no fine print banking. We give benefit of doubt to customers in the event of difference of opinion," the bank said in its disclosure to exchanges,' IDFC First Bank stated.

'Now was the occasion to stand up and deliver when it truly matters and put our customer-first principles in action. We are a principle-based bank, and we mean it. We did not hold up the payment on account of the matter being under investigation. This is the DNA of IDFC First Bank,' the lender said.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff