The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed a second chargesheet against two private individuals and a firm before CBI Special Court, Panchkula, in the IDFC First and AU Small Finance Bank scam.Chandigarh-based property dealer and real estate developer Vikram Wadhwa has been named an accused, along with Chandigarh-based M/s Sawan Jewellers and its owner, Rajan Singh Katodian.The first chargesheet had mentioned 15 accused persons and companies, including three government servants, six bankers, two companies, and four private persons. So far, 18 persons and entities have been accused in the bank scam.CBI took over one case from State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, relating to eight departments of Haryana, and two cases from the Economic Offences Police Station, Chandigarh, pertaining to Chandigarh Smart City Ltd (CSCL) and Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST).According to CBI, the total fraud in the Haryana Government case is Rs 504 crore, and in the Chandigarh case, it is Rs 153 crore. However, as per the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the quantum of fraud in Haryana and Chandigarh is Rs 645 crore.The chargesheet concerning CSCL has been filed before the court of Special Judge, CBI, Chandigarh. In this case, seven persons have been chargesheeted, including five bank officials, one CSCL official, and one private person.According to the modus operandi, mastermind Ribhav Rishi, who was the branch manager at IDFC First Bank, and Abhay Kumar, who was the relationship manager at the Bank, routed government department funds parked in bank accounts to their shell entities. Subsequently, funds from the shell entities were transferred to various third parties, including jewellers like Sawan Jewelers and other businesses.Vikram WadhwaWadhwa, a resident of Sector 36, Chandigarh, allegedly has emerged as one of the major beneficiaries of the embezzlement of funds from the bank accounts of government departments in Haryana and Chandigarh.He allegedly received Rs 22.88 crore from Capco Fintech Services, Rs 19.88 crore from Swastik Desh Projects, and Rs 4 crore from Mannat Contractor. All these are private entities of the accused. He also allegedly received Rs 18.61 crore from Divya Arora, wife of Ribhav Rishi, and Rs 5.37 crore from Ribhav Rishi. He received a total of Rs 70.74 crore through the banking channel alone. Besides, he allegedly received cash amounts from mastermind Ribhav Rishi and his employees.According to the investigating agency, Wadhwa further purchased four immovable properties for over Rs 40 crore during 2025-26, including a 2-kanal plot in Sector 33-C worth Rs 24.5 crore, a 1-kanal house in Sector 21-C, Chandigarh, worth Rs 10 crore, a 1-acre farmhouse in Amari Hills, Mullanpur, New Chandigarh, worth Rs 2.25 crore and an over 15 marla plot in Greater Punjab Society, Mullanpur, worth Rs 4 crore.Rajan Singh Katodian and Sawan JewellersAccording to the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SV&ACB), which initially investigated the case, Sawan Jewelers received a sum exceeding Rs 250 crore from various companies and firms linked to other accused individuals, such as Ribhav Rishi, Abhay Kumar, Abhishek Singla, and Swati Singla.Rajan Singh Katodia, owner of Sawan Jewellers, allegedly facilitated the conversion of funds into cash for the prime accused and earned substantial commissions in the process. He also allegedly recorded sales of gold items in the names of these firms and companies.


