CBI books former EPFO official in corruption case

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated a corruption probe against a former Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) official who worked in Pune, Maharashtra. The accused official, A Kumar who held the post of Enforcement Officer (EO), is accused of attempting to induce a public servant with a ₹1 lakh bribe to favour him in an internal vigilance proceeding against him in December 2021.
The CBI investigation is based on a complaint from a Regional Provident Fund (PF), EPFO, Delhi, against the accused for attempting to give an illegal gratification to the investigating officer at the Zonal Vigilance Directorate, West Zone, EPFO. The CBI later conducted a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) against the accused official, which revealed that allegedly he gave a sweet box to an EPFO vigilance officer, which contained ₹1 lakh in the form of two hundred notes of ₹500.
The PE probe revealed that the accused allegedly gave undue advantage to the vigilance investigating officer, who was then working with the west zone unit, Mumbai, to induce him for a favourable outcome in the internal investigation pending against him, a CBI source said.
The CBI then booked the accused officer, Kumar, under section 8 (induce public servant to improperly a public duty) of the Prevention of Corruption Act recently to probe the allegations against him. The EPFO’s internal vigilance probe had been initiated based on a complaint against the accused official. It was alleged that the accused had indulged in corrupt practice by abusing his official position as a public servant.
During the internal investigation, the accused had been asked about the source of income of his wife as he had shown in his prior intimation form for transactions as immovable property that his wife had allegedly sourced funds for the purchase of a flat. Later, it was alleged that the accused had forcibly kept a sweet box in the bag of the vigilance investigator. Thereafter, the vigilance investigator allegedly attempted to return the suspicious packet to the accused but he did not collect it.