Most bank fraud stories are dry. Spreadsheets, fake papers, a couple of dull press notes. This one has a dancer, a Land Cruiser, a house in Delhi and enough luxury hotel bookings to fill a travel magazine.
And yeah, it's all part of a very real CBI case. Everything below is what's been reported from the investigation and a witness statement, and the accused haven't been convicted of anything yet.
The Scam Underneath the Glamour
What the CBI says happened
The case centres on alleged siphoning of government funds from accounts held in Haryana and Chandigarh, over roughly a year and a half. Ribhav Rishi, a former IDFC First Bank branch manager in Chandigarh's Sector 32, is described by the CBI as the "principal architect and mastermind."
IDFC First Bank has told the CBI court in Chandigarh it suffered a loss of Rs 646 crore in principal, along with interest. A complaint from the MC Commissioner led to an FIR in March 2026, and it flagged fake fixed deposit receipts worth over Rs 116 crore connected to Chandigarh Smart City Limited and the Municipal Corporation. ED has also attached properties worth about Rs 200.84 crore.
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Alleged scam size | Rs 657 crore |
| Bank's stated loss | Rs 646 crore |
| Alleged mastermind | Ribhav Rishi, ex-IDFC First Bank branch manager |
| Fake FDRs flagged | Over Rs 116 crore |
| ED attachments | About Rs 200.84 crore |
| Alleged IAS link | Pankaj Agarwal, accused of siphoning Rs 60.54 crore |
Where the money reportedly went
Here's the thing. The lavish part isn't just gossip. The Tribune reported earlier that investigators found the funds went on parties, foreign trips, luxury cars and properties. A Mercedes for Rs 78 lakh and a Fortuner for Rs 40 lakh were reportedly bought for Rishi. His wife, Divya Arora, allegedly received Rs 18.32 crore, per the CBI, and Rishi himself got Rs 5.40 crore from one firm and Rs 1.50 crore from another in personal accounts.
The Dancer, the Deals and the Delhi House
How they met
Let me be honest, the woman at the centre of this is now a key witness in the CBI's case against IAS officer Pankaj Agarwal, so I'm treating her account with care. She's from Siwan in Bihar and first met Rishi at a Chandigarh event in March-April 2025, where she was performing. He allegedly introduced himself as an event planner tied to SRR Planning Gurus, and also as a rice import-export businessman and an IDFC First Bank branch manager.
At the time, Rishi was already married. She says he promised to marry her.
The numbers in her statement
That's where it gets interesting, because her statement is full of figures.
| Point | Reported detail |
|---|---|
| First token for Dwarka house | Rs 1 lakh, paid July 18, 2025 |
| Cash for the house | Rs 3.10 crore |
| Her share | Rs 49 lakh |
| Balance due | Rs 90 lakh, of which Rs 65 lakh was already paid |
| Monthly payments | Rs 10 lakh, August 2025 to January 2026 |
| Total reportedly paid to her | Rs 56 lakh |
She says the monthly payments began after Rishi asked her to quit dancing. So the "Rs 10 lakh a month" line in the headline isn't a rumour. It's from her own statement to investigators.
Hotels, Trips and Parties
A very long hotel list
The travel trail reads like a bucket list. She stayed with Rishi at Hotel Novotel, Holiday Inn and Hyatt in Chandigarh, at Andaz, JW Marriott and ITC Maurya in Delhi, and at the Taj in Goa. She also described trips to Macao, Thailand and Dubai, and said Rishi booked a Toyota Land Cruiser during a January 2026 Dubai visit. They also reportedly met at the St Regis in Mumbai on July 5.
| City | Hotels mentioned |
|---|---|
| Chandigarh | Novotel, Holiday Inn, Hyatt |
| Delhi | Andaz, JW Marriott, ITC Maurya |
| Goa | Taj |
| Mumbai | St Regis |
Six or seven major hotel chains in a handful of months. That's not a couple's weekend getaway, that's a whole lifestyle running on money that, according to the CBI, belonged to the public.
The parties
Then there were the events. Reports say five or six dancers were arranged for each party, at an average cost of Rs 15 to 20 lakh. The organiser allegedly got Rs 2 lakh per event, with half of that going to her. Guests reportedly included a former Haryana government official, a former AU Small Finance Bank regional manager and a former IDFC First Bank relationship manager. Some of these were held at a venue in Zirakpur.
And this is what I can't stop thinking about. Somewhere in the same period, government departments were allegedly watching funds vanish from their accounts. The fraud reportedly came to light after one department asked to close an IDFC First Bank account and move its balance elsewhere, and the money wasn't fully there.