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Journalism of Courage
In what appears to a major scam, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in Pune has found as many as 89 fake companies that have availed benefits to the tune of Rs 18 crore from the government under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY).
Manojkumar Asrani, enforcement officer at EPFO, Pune, lodged the first information report (FIR) in this case at the Wanavdi police station on Friday. Police have booked the “proprietors” of the 89 establishments for cheating and forgery, under sections 420, 467, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code.
According to the FIR, in view of job losses in private companies during the Covid-19 outbreak, the central government (in October 2020) had launched the ABRY to increase employment opportunities in the post Covid recovery phase.
Under this scheme, the government would for a period of two years provide 24 percent of provident fund (PF) share (employees’ 12 percent and employers’ 12 per cent) to the EPFO registered establishments with up to 1,000 employees, and only the employees’ share (12 percent of wages), for establishments having more than 1,000 employees, it is stated.
The FIR mentions that accused fraudsters posing as “proprietors” of 89 establishments made online applications at the EPFO office in Pune seeking PF registration numbers. An inspection by the EPFO revealed that mobile numbers used for all applications were found to be the same. Also, they got PF numbers by submitting various forged documents like bogus shop act licences, the FIR stated.
When contacted, the complainant Asrani said, “We found these establishments were fake, they did not exist at the addresses submitted to us. The fake establishments availed financial benefits from the government by submitting fake employee details at EPFO office.”
The FIR stated that between December 31, 2020 and December 3, 2023, an inspection by the EPFO office found 42 establishments had taken Rs 9,56,76,123 against the names of fake employees. Of this amount, Rs 2,40,85,910 was withdrawn fraudulently. The remaining 47 companies took Rs 8,89,35,246 for their fake employees. Of this amount, Rs 2,21,08,577 was withdrawn, causing misappropriation of PF money under ABRY, the FIR stated.
