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Chandigarh: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR against Vishal Deep, a former Assistant Director of the Enforcement Directorate, and his brother Vikas Deep, a senior manager with Punjab National Bank, in a disproportionate assets (DA) case, alleging illicit enrichment during a brief check period in 2024.
The case was registered by the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch, Chandigarh, nearly a month after the Supreme Court granted bail to Vishal Deep, who had earlier been arrested by the agency for allegedly seeking bribes from two private college administrators during a probe into the Himachal Pradesh scholarship scam. In a separate case, he was also arrested by Panchkula police in January on extortion charges linked to Mumbai.
According to the FIR, the DA case stems from a detailed preliminary enquiry that revealed prima facie evidence of assets far exceeding known sources of income during the check period from March 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, when Vishal Deep was posted in Shimla. The FIR has been registered under Sections 12 and 13(2) read with 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018).
The agency has alleged that Vishal and Vikas Deep amassed disproportionate assets worth around Rs 93.24 lakh—about 231.48 per cent more than their combined lawful income during the period under scrutiny. As per the enquiry, assets at the beginning of the period stood at Rs 9.20 lakh, which rose sharply to Rs 44.44 lakh by the end. During the same period, total income was assessed at Rs 40.28 lakh, while expenditure was pegged at Rs 98.29 lakh.
The FIR also refers to the recovery of Rs 56.41 lakh in cash, apart from trap money, during investigations in earlier cases. Additionally, cash amounting to Rs 14.73 lakh was reportedly recovered from a location in Gurugram, the source of which will be verified during the ongoing probe. In view of the large cash recoveries and alleged suspicious high-value transactions, the CBI has said the role of family members, whose bank accounts were allegedly used to park and rotate funds, cannot be ruled out and will be examined.
The role of Vikas Deep has been described as that of an abettor, with the enquiry suggesting that both brothers used not only their own bank accounts but also those of relatives to manage the alleged illicit proceeds. The CBI has listed property investments, vehicle purchases, loan repayments, hotel stays and high-value online payments as part of the suspicious expenditure pattern.
Both brothers are already facing charges in an alleged bribery case. The CBI had registered two FIRs against Vishal Deep in December 2024 following bribery allegations, and both accused are currently out on bail in that case.
