The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over probe into alleged irregularities in the investment of over ₹4,100 crore Employees’ Provident Fund of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd in the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), officials said on Friday.
The agency has named Praveen Kumar Gupta, then secretary of the UP Power Sector Employees’ Trust, and Sudhanshu Dwivedi, then Director Finance of UPPCL, in its FIR registered on Thursday evening for criminal breach of trust, cheating and forgery. Gupta and Dwivedi were arrested by UP Police in November 2019.
The CBI has been asked to investigate the scam considering inter-state ramification as DHFL is a company with pan-India presence and tracking of funds will require expertise of company laws and accounting and an in-depth investigation which only CBI can do, according to justification given by UP government while referring CBI probe.
Former UPPCL MD A P Mishra was also arrested in the case. CBI will now take their custody.
Sharing details of irregularities, an official said, “Starting March 2017, the Uttar Pradesh Power Sector Employees Trust, formed in 2006 to handle the state-run power company’s provident fund contributions, invested ₹4,122.5 crore in multiple short-term fixed deposits. Till September, ₹1,854.3 crore had been recovered on the maturation of FDs. This does not include the dividends that were paid as interest on the investments. However, ₹2,268 crore remains with the private firm that came under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate in October 2019 over its alleged ties to Iqbal Mirchi, Dawood Ibrahim’s aide.”
{{/usCountry}}Sharing details of irregularities, an official said, “Starting March 2017, the Uttar Pradesh Power Sector Employees Trust, formed in 2006 to handle the state-run power company’s provident fund contributions, invested ₹4,122.5 crore in multiple short-term fixed deposits. Till September, ₹1,854.3 crore had been recovered on the maturation of FDs. This does not include the dividends that were paid as interest on the investments. However, ₹2,268 crore remains with the private firm that came under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate in October 2019 over its alleged ties to Iqbal Mirchi, Dawood Ibrahim’s aide.”
{{/usCountry}}The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested an accountant from Delhi in January in connection with the case. The arrested accused was identified as Lalit.
While ₹4,100 crore was invested in DHFL as unsecured term deposits by the two trusts managing the provident fund of the power corporation employees between March 2017 and December 2018, about ₹2,267 crore is still to be repaid by the company, which has been barred by the Bombay High Court from making fresh repayments.