India

Pension Fraud Worth Crores Unearthed; CBI Probe On

By
OB Bureau

New Delhi: Taking advantage of the relaxed norms for withdrawals amid job losses due to lockdown, three officials of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) allegedly siphoned off around Rs 2.71 crore between March 2020-June 2021.

Based on a complaint from the Vigilance Department of Employees’ Provident Fund Organization, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a corruption and cheating case against the three, NDTV reported.

Chandan Kumar Sinha, the mastermind is a senior Social Security Assistant in the Kandivali Regional office, sources in the CBI told NDTV. He, along with Uttam Tagaray and Vijay Jarpe, are both Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner in Coimbatore and Chennai regional offices.

An anonymous person tipped off the Vigilance Department of the EPFO on May 18, following which the department started an internal audit. Based on the revelations, the EPFO filed the complaint with CBI on August 24, the report added. The accused knew the system and its loopholes well and used the data of migrant workers to defraud the organisation during the pandemic, NDTV reported quoting sources.

The trio created bogus PF accounts using bank account and Aadhar cards collected from migrant workers and poor people for which they paid a small ‘commission’. They then portrayed them as employees of companies shut down by the pandemic and withdrew the amount by filing fake claims, the report added.

“The claims are found to be settled to members with bank accounts in different parts of the country such as Mumbai, Gorakhpur, Nashik, Patna, Ghaziabad and Mathura etc,” EPFO said in its complaint.

EPFO manages around 18 lakh crore savings of employees across the country.

OB Bureau

Recent Posts

India To Push Canada For Extradition Of Arrested Khalistani Terrorist Arsh Dalla

New Delhi: India will again ask Canada for the extradition of designated Khalistani terrorist Arshdeep Singh…

November 14, 2024

School Dropout From West Bengal Arrested For Practising As Ayurvedic Doctor In Odisha’s Berhampur

Berhampur: Police have arrested a man from West Bengal for allegedly claiming himself to be…

November 14, 2024

Manoj Bajpayee Recalls Staying In ‘Hell’, Experiencing Starvation

Mumbai: Carving a niche for himself in Bollywood was not a cakewalk for ‘The Family…

November 14, 2024

After Disapproving Of Ranveer, Mukesh Khanna Rejects Tiger Shroff For ‘Shakitmaan’

Mumbai: Mukesh Khanna’s Indian superhero series ‘Shaktimaan’ has been making headlines for quite some time…

November 14, 2024

2nd Tigress Arrives In Odisha’s Similipal Tiger Reserve From Maharashtra

Bhubaneswar: As part of Odisha government's tiger relocation project, second tigress from Maharashtra arrived at…

November 14, 2024

Severe Pollution: Central Panel Forced To Invoke GRAP 3 In Delhi From Tomorrow

New Delhi: Hours after Delhi’s Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that the third phase of…

November 14, 2024

After 7 Years, Allu Arjun Reveals The Story Behind His Viral Wine Shop Video

Mumbai: ‘Pushpa’ actor Allu Arjun is currently busy promoting his highly-anticipated film ‘Pushpa: The Rule’,…

November 14, 2024

Odisha CM Mohan Majhi To Inaugurate Bali Jatra In Cuttack Tomorrow

Cuttack: The Mahanadi river banks in Odisha's Cuttack city are all decked up for inauguration…

November 14, 2024