The Wanowrie police have booked 89 beneficiaries of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana (ABRY) for cheating Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Pune regional office, of over ₹18.04 crore.
The incident occurred between December 31, 2020, and May 3, 2024.The FIR was lodged by Manoj Kumar Asrani, PF enforcement officer, on Friday.
Asrani said, “An internal investigation by the EPFO has revealed that bogus documents were submitted to seek benefit under the scheme. We have lodged an FIR and further investigation is underway.”
The ABRY was launched to incentivise employers for creation of new employment along with social security benefits and restoration of loss of employment during Covid-19 pandemic.
The FIR states that 89 proprietors had applied online for obtaining PF number under the ABRY scheme and submitted bogus documents as address and name proof.
Internal investigation carried out by the EPF vigilance cell had revealed that the addresses did not match the details submitted to the PF office online and no such proprietory office could be located when the vigilance squads visited the addressed to verify their credentials.
The complaint further stated that 42 out of 89 beneficiaries took ₹9, 56, 76,123 in the name of bogus workers and used ₹ 2,40, 85,910 for personal gains while 47 beneficiaries took ₹8,89,35,246 in the name of bogus workers and kept ₹2,21,08,577 for their own benefit and cheated the government.
The police have invoked Indian Penal Code (IPC) 420, 467, 468 and 471 against the accused.
Sanjay Patange , incharge, Wanowrie police station, said, “We have received a complaint about fraudulent siphoning off the PF money on submission of bogus documents. We have started our investigation based on the details furnished by the EPFO in the complaint.”
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