EPF scam: accused staff say will deposit amount till name cleared

Two employees of Hiranandani group of companies,who are accused of not depositing crores of rupees into the Employees Provident Fund account,offered to deposit the amount supposed to have been siphoned off with the court until the trial is over.

Two employees of Hiranandani group of companies,who are accused of not depositing crores of rupees into the Employees Provident Fund account,offered to deposit the amount supposed to have been siphoned off with the court until the trial is over. The employees Cyrus Pitawala and Joseph Reddy told the special Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) court on Monday that they would deposit the alleged fraud amount of Rs 9.36 crore with the court and if acquitted,the amount should be returned to them with interest. The proposal was made during the hearing of the anticipatory bail application filed by Pitawala and Reddy .

CBI strongly opposed the proposal saying that the agency does not act as recovery agents for anyone and investigate the offences committed,be it whomsoever. Defence lawyer Jagdish Shah appearing for the accused told the court,My clients are willing to make fixed deposits of the amount alleged to have been siphoned off,in the court during the trial. Once the court reaches a decision,the amount can be disposed off accordingly.

The duo said in their plea that they could not be made accused in the case as there was no evidence against them. Moreover,the alleged siphoning of money could not possibly take place as the amount was paid to the employees of contractors,who are not Hiranandani employees. The provident fund money should have been deducted by the contractors,they argued.

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The CBI had registered a case against the duo in 2008 in which senior officials from the western regional office of Employees Provident Fund Organisation at Bandra were also named as suspects. The FIR registered on March 29,2008,was based on specific intelligence. Based on preliminary investigation,the agency registered a case under sections of criminal conspiracy and cheating against representatives from the Hiranandani Group,along with the four officers from the EPF organisation.

According to the CBI,discrepancies in the accounts indicated non-payment of the provident fund collected from the employees salary to the provident fund coffers. The provident fund evasion pertains to the financial period 2003-2004.

The special court is likely to pass an order on the plea on Tuesday.

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