Multi-crore PF scam hits Jet Airways

The Kandivli Provident Fund PF office is under the cloud of a multicrore scam involving the PF settlement of several Jet Airways employees mostly pilots Sources have told midday that PF officials connived with the airline staff to siphon money off the accounts of foreign workers and destroyed vital documents Amid demands for a CBI probe and with the EPFO sending a senior vigilance officer to Mumbai to investigate the scam desperate efforts are being made to retrieve copies of the documentsAs pressure mounts for a forensic audit into the PF accounts of expatriate and domestic workers of Jet Airways the Kandivli PF office suspended a senior officialmdashSocial Security Assistant Machindra Bamnemdashon August 18 for allegedly receiving kickbacksMachindra Bamne senior social security assistant of Kandivli PF office was suspended on August 18 for receiving kickbacks over settlement of PF claims of Jet Airways employeesSources told midday that Bamne violated PF rules for international workers in connivance with his senior colleagues at the Kandivli regional office and insiders at Jet After siphoning crores through bogus claims those involved in the scam destroyed several documents ldquoNow Jet Airways is contacting the pilots to send copies of Indian PAN cards and Indian bank cheques for PF recipt of money The foreign pilots have been asked to send their vital documents to suchitbhagwatjetairwayscomrdquo said a sourceAlso Read Mumbai Artists transform Worli wall into a high energy canvasldquoThe multicrore loot started in 2019 but it gained momentum during lockdown periodrdquo said another source at EPFO midday has WhatsApp chat details between a former Jet employee and a pilot who was asked to send the documents that are missing at the PF officeThe scam was discussed during a meeting of top officials with the Union labour minister last monthA WhatsApp chat between a former Jet employee and a pilot reads ldquoHi Capthelliprequest you to forward your indian pan card copy and indian bank cheque copy used for provident fund receipt of money to Mr Suchit on suchitbhagwatjetairwayscom as same is required by provident fund office urgentlyrsquoWhen the pilot asked ldquowhat happened will they pay moneyrdquo the former employee replied lsquono ideahellip he just called me today and enquired about this for few pilotsrdquolsquoHe Bhagwat said these pilots have already withdrawn money but these documents are missing from their set in provident fund office So that office EPFO is asking to submit same sicrsquo reads the chatAlso Read Supreme Court junks PIL against Reliance zooThe pilot replied lsquoIn 2019 I got some per cent Not the total amount 2021 I was requesting to get the pending balance but was not possiblersquoEPFOrsquos top vigilance officer will be in Mumbai to probe the matterldquoAfter illegally settling the PF accounts of foreign national pilots of Jet Airways their vital documents were destroyed The PF Commissioner is the legal custodian of these vital documents When the matter was raised by Central Board of Trustee members during a twoday meeting with senior IAS officials and Labor Minister on July 29 and July 30 the Chief Vigilance Officer was asked to conduct the investigationrdquo said a source in DelhiTrustee member Sukumar Damle said ldquoThe issue of Jet Airways was raised in the meeting and people talked about the underarm dealings Itrsquos a matter related to the Kandivli branch I have heard that such a thing has happened and people who are foreign employees their PF amounts are siphoned off by the scamstersrdquoAnother member Prabhakar Banasure said ldquoI was present in the meeting I have demanded for the forensic audit of PF accounts of Jet AirwaysrdquoThough chief vigilance officer CVO Jeetendra Khare will investigate the case officials at the Kandivli PF office and a few trustee members cast doubts on the outcomeldquoSince the CVO will be assisted at the Kandivli branch by the same officials who are trying to suppress the matter we cannot expect a fair investigation So it must be handed over to a third party like CBI to conduct a thorough investigation as many white collars are involved in this scamrdquo said a source adding that the suspension was made after the matter blew upmidday has a copy of Bamnersquos suspension order which says he ldquoreceived illegal gratification from some members into his bank account for settlement of PF claims related to employees of Jet Airwaysrdquo It has been signed by Sudhir Ganvir Regional Provident Fund Commissioner RO KandivlilsquoNo scam at allrsquoGanvir asked midday ldquoWho has informed you There is no issue as such actually It is just rumour mongering going on There is no issue as such I have joined this office one year backrdquo He sought to explain ldquoJet Airways has stopped functioning and has gone to National Companies Law Tribunal Now the NCLT has given the direction to some third person to run it I am the incharge of this regional office but there is no issue of a PF scam Somebody is trying to malign the image of the PF officerdquoAbout CVOrsquos visit to Mumbai on Monday Ganvir said ldquoHe is coming here to conduct review of Thane zone Itrsquos a regular review Therersquos no issue of Jet Airways at allrdquoWhen asked if there was no issue then why Bamne was suspended Ganvir took a pause and said ldquoHe has been suspended due to his own action it has no relation to Jet Airwayshellipit is an official matter He Bamne was settling the PF claims of Jet Airways And while settling the claims he accepted money from some employees I can 100 per cent assure you that therersquos no scam as suchrdquoWhen asked about the efforts to retrieve the documents of a few former pilots of foreign origins Ganvir said ldquoNo there are no documents missing in our officerdquoGanvir said he was informed R1 lakh was reflected in Bamnersquos accountBamne told midday ldquoI am not in a condition to talk as my wife is unwellrdquoSources said a Kandivlibased firm which is being run by Nilesh Kapadia an exemployee of EPFO has been taking care of all the PFrelated work for Jet Airways Kapadia denied that he was doing any consulting worklsquoNo mails from expatsrsquoSuchit Bhagwat senior executive from Jetrsquos finance department said ldquoI am not aware of any scam as such Nothing is in my knowledgerdquo When asked if there was any communication with EPFOrsquos Kandivli branch regarding the alleged scam Bhagwat said ldquoThere is no communication from EPFO official as such else they would have surely communicated with merdquoWhen asked if he has started receiving mails from the international employees of Jet Airways who are being contacted by a former employee of the airlines Bhagwat said ldquoNohellipI am 100 per cent sure that I have not received any mail from expats But if their mails landed in spam folder I am not sure because I have not checked my spam folder yethellipI will check and you knowhelliprdquoBhagwat did not respond to the calls afterwardsmidday tried to contact Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Kapoor its legal team head and the head of the resolutionary professional team of Jet Airways They did not respond to the our messages and calls18Day of this month when the PF staffer was suspended