Following this paper’s exclusive report, central agency takes suo motu cognisance and opens parallel probe into EPFO office and alleged role of Jet insiders
Certain staffers at the Kandivli PF office are suspected of illegally siphoning money off accounts of expat pilots of Jet Airways. Pic/Nimesh Dave
The Central Bureau of Investigation has taken cognisance of mid-day’s expose on the alleged scam at EPFO’s Kandivli office in connection with the PF settlement of former employees of Jet Airways, particularly expat pilots. With sources in Delhi pegging the alleged embezzlement at hundreds of crores, a CBI officer got in touch with mid-day to gather crucial pieces of information hours after this newspaper’s August 20 report.
The Kandivli office of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has so far suspended one employee for taking bribes in connection with the Jet Airways case, while Sudhir Ganvir, regional provident fund commissioner, RO, Kandivli, has been accused of trying to suppress the matter.
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“We have taken suo motu action and have been tracking mid-day’s stories. At present, we are working on it. We are talking to people whom you had referred to,” said a senior CBI officer, requesting anonymity. Sources said CBI has demanded from EPFO officials certified copies of PF-related documents of Jet Airways. The central agency has also contacted EPFO’s central board of trustees to take stock of the situation.
Also read: Jet PF row: Is a cover-up underway?
EPFO’s Kandivli office is under a scam cloud. Pic/Nimesh Dave
Sources at EPFO said those involved in the graft are trying to hush up the matter and may tamper with the evidence. “We are in the process of searching and collecting pieces of evidence so that a First Information Report [FIR] can be registered. Then we can conduct a thorough investigation,” said the CBI officer.
Though he didn’t rule out potential attempts to destroy the evidence, the CBI officer said, “But, see, today everything is online. The details of Jet employees will be available online. We can get the entire details like the number of Jet Airways employees including international as well as domestic workers; who, how much and when was the Jet employee paid, how much is the pendency, etc will be scanned,” the CBI officer said. “And if we get any traces of destruction of evidence, a fresh case will be filed against those involved.” The CBI officer said they are trying to ascertain if the PF officials and Jet executives have discharged their duty properly or fudged the PF accounts of pilots and crew members of the airline.
The intervention by EPFO’s Chief Vigilance Officer Jitendra Khare will ensure that the matter is not hushed up, said the CBI officer. “If the CVO has been roped in to conduct an inquiry, it signifies that somebody must have complained to senior officials at EPFO. And it was the reason that one person [Senior Social Security Assistant Machindra Bamne] has been suspended,” said the CBI officer, adding, “There is no smoke without a fire…we do smell some fishy work at their Kandivli office. We are working on it.”
Why this administrative lag?
A source at EPFO said the case should have been handed over to the CBI immediately after authorities at EPFO Kandivli suspended Bamne on August 18. “Why is there an administrative delay in handing over the sensitive matter of international workers of Jet Airways to CBI? The CVO should have handed over the case to the Central agency,” said the source.
Central Board of Trustees member Prabhakar Banasure said, “I have written to Chief Provident Fund Commissioner [Neelam Shami Rao] to hand over the case to CBI, but she was not available last week as she sounded busy in a national conference. I am going to ask her this week regarding my letter to her,” Banasure told mid-day. He said if huge amounts of money was found in Bamne’s personal bank account, why Ganvir isn’t registering an FIR against him. “Why the CVO is not handing over Bamne’s case to CBI?”
“Being the commissioner, Sudhir Ganvir is the controlling authority at the regional office of PF at Kandivli. Why is he still holding the coveted position at an office where a multi-crore PF scam surfaced under his nose and one senior security assistant was suspended?” wondered another EPFO source at the national capital.
Will Jet pilots get relief?
A senior EPFO official from Delhi said the social security body will have to use its special reserve fund (SRF) to help Jet’s expat pilots whose PF money was siphoned off by PF officials at Kandivli. “See, if the EPFO has failed to recover the PF amount of Jet pilots from their employer due to the alleged malpractices adopted at Kandivli office, it will be the responsibility of the department to immediately deposit the amount in the PF accounts of Jet employees from SRF.”
The CBI officer said a new class of employees called ‘international workers’ was created by bringing an amendment to the PF rules effective October 1, 2008. The investigating agency will have to retrieve huge amount of data of international workers at Jet Airways from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) from October 2008 onwards.
“I have been reading Jet pilots’ grievances in mid-day. So a thorough forensic audit of all the accounts should be done immediately to use the report as a crucial piece of evidence in the court,” the officer added.
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