NEW DELHI: A woman dancer was allegedly paid Rs 10 lakh a month and helped acquire a nearly Rs 4-crore house in Delhi by the alleged mastermind of the Rs 657-crore Haryana-Chandigarh government funds fraud, as a CBI investigation uncovers a trail of lavish parties, luxury hotels and foreign trips alongside the suspected siphoning of public money.
Former IDFC First Bank official Ribhav Rishi, described by the CBI as the “principal architect and mastermind” of the alleged conspiracy, paid the woman Rs 56 lakh between August 2025 and January 2026 after asking her to quit dancing, according to her statement to investigators.
The woman, who has emerged as a key witness in the investigation, also told the CBI that Rishi financed most of the cost of a house acquired for her in Dwarka, Delhi.
According to her statement, Rs 3.10 crore was paid in cash towards the property, while another Rs 90 lakh was payable. She said she contributed only Rs 49 lakh.
The disclosures have opened a striking new window into how Rishi allegedly spent money during the period in which investigators say hundreds of crores of rupees belonging to Haryana government departments and Chandigarh Administration entities were being siphoned from bank accounts and routed through shell companies.
The money trail did not stop at the Delhi property.
According to the woman’s statement, her relationship with Rishi involved stays at luxury hotels in Chandigarh, Delhi and Goa and trips to Macao, Thailand and Dubai. During one Dubai visit, the couple stayed at the Burj Al Arab, while Rishi allegedly showed her a newly built four-bedroom duplex villa where, she said, he told her they could eventually settle.
In January 2026, Rishi allegedly booked a Toyota Land Cruiser during another Dubai visit, she told investigators.
The CBI is now examining the financial trail behind the payments, properties, travel and other expenditure as part of its wider investigation into the alleged Rs 657-crore fraud. - The Statesman/ANN
