The CBI investigations into the IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank scam revealed how a suicide note of accounts officer Balwant Singh revealed the story of cheque no. 21, through which Rs 25 crore was paid from the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) account to a shell entity, Swastik Desh Projects.IDFC First Bank offered HPGCL 14 per cent interest on a savings bank account, according to the CBI.Story of cheque No. 21  The CBI investigations have found that the HPGCL Pension Fund Trust account was opened at AU Small Finance Bank, Ludhiana, on June 2, 2025, and was later shifted to Sector 8, Panchkula.The file noting for opening this savings account was moved on May 21, 2025, by Jaibir Singh, Divisional Accountant. The bank was offering an interest rate of 7%.That investigation revealed that the linked mobile number for this account was that of Accounts Officer Late Balwant Singh. A cheque book of the account was also issued. When the account was shifted to Panchkula, another cheque book was issued.Only the initial 10 of 25 cheque leaves in the old cheque book were used until the issuance of the new cheque book in December 2025.On December 29, 2025, an unauthorised transfer of Rs 25 crore was made from the HPGCL account to Swastik Desh Project via cheque no. 21. The SMS alert about this transaction was delivered to the mobile number of Balwant Singh.During the investigation, cheque no. 21 was found missing from the old cheque book. Divisional Accountant Jaibir Singh was the custodian of the cheque book, which was kept in an almirah on the second floor of the Urja Bhawan in Panchkula. The key of the almirah was with Jaibir Singh and late Balwant Singh.In the Panchkula court, the CBI submitted that in December 2025, Balwant Singh asked Jaibir Singh to bring the old cheque book of the AU Small Finance Bank account, as it was to be shown to the Director Finance, Amit Dewan, who was sitting with Ribhav Rishi on the third floor of the office.Rishi is the mastermind of the Rs 645 crore IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank scam. He initiated the fraud while he was a branch manager at IDFC First Bank and continued it after he moved to AU Small Finance Bank.Rishi had taken the cheque no. 21 from the old cheque book.Charanpreet Randhawa, then the branch manager of AU Small Finance Bank’s Mohali branch, told the CBI that Abhay Kumar, a close associate of Rishi and bank official, handed him the cheque no. 21 bearing the authorised signatory’s signature. He wrote the body of the cheque and asked Kumar to confirm it on the phone with Balwant Singh.Call recordingBalwant Singh had made a WhatsApp call to Dewan on February 21, 2026, which was recorded on Jaibir Singh’s phone while putting the phone of Balwant Singh on speaker mode. The recording was made as Balwant Singh apprehended that Dewan might subsequently deny or disown his role in providing the cheque of AU Small Finance Bank to Ribhav Rishi, the CBI claimed.Balwant Singh repeatedly requested Dewan to ensure the cheque’s return over the phone. The audio file was stored on a pen drive, handed over to the CBI, and is now crucial evidence against Dewan.Balwant Singh committed suicide on May 4, 2026, by jumping off the eighth floor of the Civil Secretariat, Sector 1, Chandigarh. In his suicide note, he revealed that Dewan was the person who had taken possession of the cheque and had handed over the same to Rishi, which was thereafter fraudulently utilised for the unauthorised withdrawal of Rs 25 crore from the HPGCL account.He further mentioned in the suicide note that upon learning of the fraudulent withdrawal, he immediately informed Dewan, who repeatedly assured him that the money would be returned. When the money was not returned despite repeated reminders, he even suggested lodging a police complaint, whereupon Dewan continued to assure him that the money would be returned.When Balwant Singh proposed moving an official note in the matter, Dewan threatened to suspend him to prevent him from doing so.The suicide note constitutes a statement made by a person who was conscious of his impending death, thereby satisfying the essential conditions for admissibility as a dying declaration, said the CBI in the court.A Panchkula court on Wednesday dismissed the bail application of Dewan.IDFC First Bank offered 14 per cent interest on an SB accountHPGCL opened an account in the IDFC First Bank Branch, Sector 32, Chandigarh, on February 27, 2024, in the name of “HPGCL Dry Fly Ash Fund”. It was Senior Accounts Officer Deepti Kaushik who initiated the proposal to open the account on February 19, 2024.Kaushik told CBI that it was Dewan who had called her in his cabin on February 19, 2024, where Rishi was present and had given the proposal. When she told Dewan that the bank was not empanelled with the Haryana government, he replied that this would be seen when funds had to be transferred.Dewan approved the proposal on the same day and forwarded it to MD, HPGCL, who accorded the sanction on February 20, 2024.On Dewan’s order, Kaushik made the calculation of interest loss on account of premature withdrawal from IndusInd Bank and the corresponding interest compensation to be sought from IDFC Bank.Rishi offered 14 per cent interest on the savings account for the specific duration from November 11, 2024, to March 28, 2025. The proposal letter was purportedly signed by co-accused Abhay Kumar, relationship manager, on behalf of IDFC First Bank.It emerged that Rs 50 crore was transferred from IndusInd Bank to IDFC First Bank at the direction of the MD of HPGCL, after discussions with Dewan, according to the CBI.It is pertinent to note that the official interest rate of IDFC First Bank is 6.5 per cent for savings accounts and 5 per cent for deposits above Rs 25 crore.The CBI told the court, “Investigation revealed that the issue relating to the fraudulent debit transactions was deliberated upon in the departmental note sheet dated July 30, 2025. Examination of the said note sheet revealed that the unauthorised and fraudulent transactions were initially discussed therein, and reference was subsequently made to the letter dated July 28, 2025, for arriving at the conclusion that HPGCL had allegedly not suffered any financial loss, as the amounts pertaining to the fraudulent transactions had been credited back into the account.”The amount of Rs 50 crore was further transferred to the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, by nine Demand Drafts. Dewan himself called Dhirender Pratap Singh, then the Regional head of IDFC First Bank, on WhatsApp to ensure it was their department’s decision.In total, Dewan allegedly received Rs 1.8 crore in cash in illegal gratification from mastermind Ribhav Rishi. He allegedly received Rs 25 lakh on November 21, 2025, Rs 25 lakh on December 10, 2025, Rs 50 lakh on January 6, 2026, Rs 50 lakh on January 12, 2026, and Rs 30 lakh on January 17, 2026.Modus OperandiAccording 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 and other businesses. In the majority of cases, the cash was received from third parties in lieu of funds transferred through banking channels.