In the middle of the Rs 657-crore bank scam in Haryana and Chandigarh, when public funds were being siphoned from government departments’ accounts over one-and-a-half years, a love story was also blossoming.The CBI investigation revealed that the mastermind of the scam, Ribhav Rishi, who was already married, met a woman dancer in March-April 2025 at an event in Chandigarh. She was performing at the event.“Maybe I caught his attention, but we did not interact during that event. I met him again after a month or two, though I do not remember the exact date,” the woman told the CBI. They met again on May 8, 2025, this time at a farmhouse party in Jaipur.Thereafter, on July 5, 2025, she met Rishi at the St. Regis Hotel in Mumbai, where he confessed that he loved her. He introduced himself as an event planner associated with M/s SRR Planning Gurus. He also told her that he was engaged in the rice import-export business and was also working as a branch manager with IDFC First Bank.SRR Planning Gurus is a shell firm floated by Rishi to siphon off public funds.“He expressed his love for me and, as I was not committed to anyone at that time, he assured me that he would take care of me and my family,” the woman told the CBI.At the same time, Rishi was also allegedly busy siphoning off public funds in collusion with IAS officers and bank colleagues from the department accounts of the Haryana government and Chandigarh Administration.The girlfriend, who hails from Siwan (Bihar), is a key witness in the CBI’s case against IAS officer Pankaj Agarwal, who is alleged to have been involved in siphoning off Rs 60.54 crore in collusion with Rishi from two departments — School Education and Agriculture — under him as administrative head.Rishi told her that he would divorce his wife, Divya Arora, and marry her, she told the CBI.On July 18, 2025, Rishi paid Rs 1 lakh as a token amount for a house in Dwarka, Delhi, for her. She told the CBI that Rs 3.10 crore was paid in cash for the house, of which she contributed only Rs 49 lakh, with the rest paid by Rishi. Further, Rs 90 lakh was to be paid towards the property, of which Rs 65 lakh had already been paid.She has been living there since January 2, 2026.Ribhav also paid her Rs 10 lakh per month from August 2025 till January 2026. “He had agreed to pay me this amount because he had made me quit my source of income through dancing,” she added. In total, he paid her Rs 56 lakh.When asked by the investigating agency, she said that she had performed at only two or three of the parties organised by Rishi.Rishi had organised parties in Jaipur, Delhi and Mumbai, but most of these were held at Jade Manor, Zirakpur (SAS Nagar), where Haryana government officers and other accused were entertained.“All these parties in Chandigarh were organised at Jade Manor (Zirakpur). At these events, Ribhav ensured my presence but did not allow me to perform. He paid Rs 2 lakh per event to the organiser, out of which I was paid half of the amount,” she told the CBI.During their affair, she stayed with Rishi at Hotel Novotel, Holiday Inn and Hyatt in Chandigarh; Andaz, JW Marriott and ITC Maurya in Delhi; and Taj Hotel in Goa.In August 2025, she and Rishi went to Macao along with other accused — Naresh Kumar Bhuwani, a former Superintendent of the Development and Panchayats Department and a key middleman for Haryana government departments; Arun Sharma, former Regional Manager of AU Small Finance Bank; Abhay Kumar, former Relationship Manager of IDFC First Bank; and some women dancers. Thereafter, the group travelled to Thailand.On November 21, 2025, Rishi travelled with her to Dubai along with Arun Sharma, Abhay Kumar and Naresh Kumar Bhuwani. The couple stayed at Burj Al Arab in a sea-facing duplex.“During the visit, Ribhav took me to a villa situated in Dubai, near the new Dubai Airport. It was a newly built 4 BHK duplex. He told me that he intended to settle down in Dubai with me after 5-10 years and, therefore, had selected that house,” she said.In January 2026, the couple went to Dubai again, where Rishi booked a Toyota Land Cruiser.She revealed to the CBI that Rishi used to arrange the currency notes for parties at Jade Manor. These currency notes were thrown by Haryana government officers at the dancers during the events.The amount collected by each dancer, which depended on her performance, was shared with the organiser in a 50:50 ratio.At each such event, five to six dancers were arranged by the organiser, Nitin Anand, a UAE resident. On average, Rs 15-20 lakh was spent on each of these parties.Abhay Kumar, Naresh Kumar Bhuwani, Abhishek Singla, co-owner of M/s Swastik Desh Projects, a shell entity floated to siphon off public funds; Arun Sharma; Ankur Sharma, one of the directors of SRR Planning Gurus; and IAS officer Pankaj Aggarwal had attended these parties.“Except for Ribhav and Ankur, the others used to avail the services of the escorts. Pankaj Aggarwal attended six to seven of these events organised by Ribhav Rishi. He used to throw money on the dancers and also availed the services of the escorts,” she said.The CBI has seized her Samsung Z Fold phone during the investigation.According to the CBI, Rishi received Rs 5.40 crore from M/s SRR Planning Gurus and Rs 1.50 crore from M/s Swastik Desh Projects into his personal accounts, while his wife Divya Arora received Rs 18.32 crore. He allegedly authorised at least 25 fraudulent debit transactions totalling Rs 187.35 crore across multiple government accounts.