In a major development in the Kotak Mahindra Bank scam, the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SV&ACB) on Thursday (April 2) arrested ex-Senior Accounts Officer of Municipal Corporation, Panchkula, Vikas Kaushik, who, allegedly in collusion with Deputy Vice-President of the bank, Pushpender Singh, fraudulently opened two accounts of the local body and transferred the funds.When Kaushik was posted as a Section Officer at Panchkula MC, he, in collusion with Pushpender Singh, Deputy Vice-President in Kotak Mahindra Bank and serving as Branch Manager at Sector 11, Panchkula, allegedly opened a fraudulent bank account in the name of the Panchkula MC in May 2020.On the account opening form for this account, Kaushik allegedly affixed the official seals of the Commissioner, Panchkula MC, and the Senior Accounts Officer. Furthermore, he and Pushpender Singh forged the signatures of the then Commissioner, MC Panchkula, IAS Sumedha Kataria, and the then Senior Accounts Officer, Sushil Kumar, over these seals.Subsequently, in June 2022, Kaushik and Pushpender Singh allegedly jointly opened yet another fraudulent account in the name of Panchkula MC at Kotak Mahindra Bank.On the account opening form for this second account, Kaushik allegedly signed in the capacity of Senior Accounts Officer and affixed a forged seal of the Deputy Municipal Commissioner (DMC). Over this seal, he and Manager Pushpender Singh also allegedly forged the signature of the then DMC, Deepak Sura.After allegedly fabricating fraudulent debit notes (RTGS/NEFT notes) purportedly issued by MC Panchkula, Kaushik would allegedly affix his own signature as one of the signatories, while forging the signature of the second signatory.Using these fraudulent debit notes, Pushpender would allegedly transfer funds belonging to the MC from the two fraudulent bank accounts to his personal bank accounts.“Through the use of these fraudulent debit notes, the accused Vikas Kaushik and Pushpender (Kotak Mahindra Bank Manager) would prematurely liquidate Fixed Deposits (FDs) held in the genuine accounts of Panchkula Municipal Corporation. By forging signatures, they would transfer these proceeds into fraudulent accounts opened in the name of Panchkula MC — with account numbers 2015073031 and 2046279112,” said the SV&ACB.Subsequently, funds from these two fraudulent accounts were allegedly further transferred into the accounts of individuals such as Rajat Dahra, Swati Tomar, and others.“Finally, Pushpender and the accused Vikas Kaushik would transfer these funds onward to various builders,” added the investigating agency.Kaushik will be produced before the court on April 3.In July 2025 and February 2026, when the MC requested information regarding the status of its FDs and the balances held in its accounts, Relationship Manager (RM) at Kotak Mahindra Bank, Dilip Singh Raghav contacted Kaushik to discuss the matter.“This consultation became necessary because the accused Vikas Kaushik and Pushpender (the Manager) had already prematurely liquidated all the FDs and transferred the proceeds elsewhere, leaving no FDs or funds remaining in the accounts,” informed the SV&ACB.Kaushik allegedly instructed Raghav to coordinate with Pushpender and falsely confirm the requested information via email. Acting on these instructions, they fabricated false bank statements and fraudulent FD advice notes, which were then forwarded to Panchkula MC.Kaushik is the fourth arrest in the case. Pushpender Singh is absconding.Raghav was the first to be arrested in the case on March 25, for allegedly sending emails with false information to Panchkula MC. Dahra was the second arrestee who allegedly disclosed that he received Rs 70 crore from the Panchkula MC accounts. The third accused, Kapil, a resident of Rajpura, was arrested for allegedly receiving Rs 2.36 crore from the Panchkula MC accounts.On March 30, Kotak Mahindra Bank returned Rs 127 crore to Panchkula MC. But, it is only the principal amount. As per the FIR in the scam, the MC was maintaining 16 FDs, amounting to Rs 145.03 crore, with a maturity value of Rs 158.02 crore, in the bank’s Sector 11 branch in Panchkula. Of the 16 FDs, 11, amounting to Rs 59.58 crore, matured on February 16. When the MC contacted the bank, officials provided statements, which neither matched each other nor the MC records, particularly with respect to the FDs.