MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked two employees of a private telecommunications firm for fraudulently withdrawing provident fund (PF) worth ₹19.33 crore from the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), using names of 94 fictitious employees of the firm.
Event Context
A first information report (FIR) was registered against the duo – Vaibhav Verma and Kamaraju Mutyala – on July 16, based on a complaint from the EPFO’s regional provident fund commissioner (vigilance), Delhi. Verma and Mutyala have been booked along with unidentified public servants and private persons under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Information Technology Act.
The complainant firm, Nokia Solutions & Networks India Pvt Ltd, had submitted a complaint to the EPFO about the alleged irregularities in January 2025, after an internal investigation showed that Verma, the payroll cluster lead, and Mutyala, the head of payroll management, were responsible for processing PF transfer-related requests. The duo had deleted the files submitted to the EPFO from their laptops, the internal probe found. It also detected electronic communications containing details of non-firm employees, false confirmations regarding employment status, and approval of Know Your Customer particulars of suspected fake employees through official credentials, indicating awareness of the irregular nature of certain entries.
Based on the findings of the forensic audit, Nokia placed the two officials under suspension and initiated disciplinary proceedings against them, it said in the complaint.
As per the EPFO’s complaint to the CBI, which led to the FIR, Nokia was an exempted establishment under the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. The firm had in July 2023 submitted an application seeking surrender of its exemption with effect from September 2023. The same month, the EPFO accepted and approved the proposal to transfer past accumulations of the firm to the EPFO and commence compliance as an un-exempted establishment with effect from September 1, 2023.
Nokia Solutions commenced statutory compliance as an un-exempted establishment with effect from September 1, 2023 and transferred to the EPFO the entire past accumulations standing to the credit of all eligible members, with complete particulars recording status of their respective accounts.
After the EPFO received a complaint from Nokia alleging large-scale fraudulent activities in relation to the PF accounts, the EPFO’s Zonal Office and the Zonal Fraud Risk Management Committee (ZFRMC) examined the alleged irregularities. The probe found that there were 94 suspected fictitious or non-genuine members in whose names withdrawals were made, the EPFO told the CBI in its complaint.
The alleged fraud caused a wrongful loss of ₹20 crore to Nokia, the FIR registered by the CBI said.
When contacted, a Nokia spokesperson said, “Nokia takes compliance seriously and is committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity in its business practices. We are fully cooperating with the relevant authorities in connection with their investigation. As this is an ongoing matter, we are unable to comment further on the specifics of the case.”
