Bribery probe: EPFO official asked for bribe to skip paying PF dues of ₹10.5L

CBI probe reveals that two EPFO officers in Nashik allegedly asked for a ₹2 lakh bribe to allow a construction firm owner to skip paying PF dues worth ₹10.5 lakh and penalty. The officers and a private person have been arrested.

Mumbai The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s probe into an alleged bribery case in Nashik against two senior EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation) officers and a private person has revealed that the accused allegedly asked for a ₹2 lakh bribe from the complainant to allow him to skip paying PF dues worth ₹10.5 lakh and the penalty.

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The complainant, who is the owner of a construction firm, had received a notice from an accused EPFO officer on October 9 this year, after which he met the latter at his office a couple of days later, CBI sources said. In the meeting, the officer had allegedly asked the complainant to submit his firm’s bank account statements from 2019 to 2021 and also referred him to a private consultant, sources said. As per the accused officer’s alleged direction, the complainant submitted the required statements to the consultant, sources said.

After a few days, when the complainant again met the officer, the latter allegedly informed him that he was required to pay ₹10.5 lakh in dues, against the PF not paid by his firm, plus a penalty, the sources said. The officer also allegedly told him that the matter would be closed if he paid him a bribe of ₹2 lakh. The accused also allegedly asked the complainant to hand over the bribe amount to the private person.

The EPFO is among the world’s largest social security organisations. Based on the complaint from the firm owner, the CBI had on Tuesday registered an FIR against the EPFO officer and the private person under Indian Penal Code’s section 120b (criminal conspiracy) and Prevention of Corruption Act’s sections 7 and 8 (pertaining to offence relating to demand of bribe by a public servant). On getting the complaint, the CBI had laid a trap and caught the private person and two EPFO officers while allegedly accepting the bribe, according to the agency.

As part of the probe, the CBI carried out searches at seven locations in Nashik, which led to the recovery of incriminating material including cash, and diaries containing details of undue advantage, among other articles. The arrested accused were produced before a court in Nashik on Thursday and were remanded to CBI’s custody till January 1.