IDFC First Bank shares plunge 20% on detecting fraud amounting to ₹590 crore

Shares of IDFC First bank dropped as much as 20% to hit an intraday low of ₹66.80 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, February 23. On the BSE, IDFC First Bank shares declined by 20% to ₹66.85 after the bank on Sunday informed exchanges that it detected fraudulent activities by certain employees at a particular branch in Chandigarh amounting to ₹590 crore.

On the BSE, there were a total of 1,94,73,757 pending sell orders while no buyers were seen on the exchange.

The bank has suspended four suspected officials, and it will pursue strict disciplinary, civil and criminal action against the employees and other external individuals responsible, in accordance with applicable law, IDFC First Bank said.

IDFC First Bank said that it received a request from a particular Department of Haryana Government for closure of its account and transfer of funds to another bank. In the process, certain discrepancy was observed in the amount mentioned vis-à-vis the balance in the account.

Following the request from the department, bank found differences between the balances in the account and the balances as mentioned by the said Haryana Government entities holding accounts with the bank.

"The aggregate amount under reconciliation across the identified accounts at the abovementioned Branch is approximately ₹590 crore. The impact may be determined based on receipt of further information, validation of claims, recoveries of any nature including those made through the process of marking lien on fraudulent beneficiary accounts maintained with other Banks, liabilities of other entities involved in the fraudulent transactions, and the legal recovery process," IDFC First Bank said in a regulatory filing.

Meanwhile, the bank convened a meeting of Special Committee of the Board for Monitoring and Follow-up of Cases of Frauds (SCBMF) on February 20, 2026 and the matter was placed before the Committee.

IDFC First Bank said that is in the process of appointing an independent external agency to conduct an independent forensic audit and it has filed a complaint with the police authorities and will extend full cooperation to the investigating agencies.

The bank has also sent a recall request to certain beneficiary banks to lien mark balance in suspicious accounts held in these banks.

Following the incident, global investment bank Jefferies in a note said that the bank will need to strengthen operational controls and clarify that issue has not spread to other clients.

Investec in a note said that the final impact will depend on ongoing investigations, recoveries, and the validation of claims, as per bank.

As of 10:12 am, IDFC First Bank shares stood at ₹69.13 per unit, down by 17.22%, underperforming the NIFTY Bank index which was up 0.14%.