According to the CBI's FIR, the two allegedly created 94 fictitious EPF accounts during 2023-24 and used them to divert Rs 19.33 crore in provident fund money.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against two senior Nokia employees for allegedly siphoning off Rs 19.33 crore from the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) by creating fake provident fund accounts.
The accused are Vaibhav Verma, Payroll Cluster Lead, and Kamaraju Mutyala, Head of Payroll Management, both based in Mumbai.
According to the CBI's FIR, the two allegedly created 94 fictitious EPF accounts during 2023-24 and used them to divert Rs 19.33 crore in provident fund money. The agency has also named unidentified public servants and private individuals as accused, alleging they were part of the wider conspiracy.
The alleged fraud came to light after Nokia transitioned from an exempted establishment under the Employees' Provident Fund Act to the regular EPFO system.
As an exempted establishment, Nokia managed employee provident fund contributions through its own privately administered PF trust. In July 2023, the company sought to surrender this exemption, and after receiving approval, transferred members' accumulated PF balances to the EPFO. The company began operating as a non-exempt establishment from September 2023.
The alleged irregularities surfaced during the post-transition process.
An investigation by the EPFO's Zonal Fraud Risk Management Committee reportedly detected significant discrepancies and identified 94 beneficiary accounts that were found to be non-genuine but had received provident fund payments.
Nokia also carried out an internal forensic audit, which allegedly linked the fraudulent transactions to Verma and Mutyala. According to investigators, the forensic examination recovered deleted submission files from the accused's laptops, electronic records containing details of individuals who were never employed by Nokia, fabricated employment confirmations, and KYC approvals for fake PF accounts that had been processed using official credentials.
Following the findings of the internal probe, Nokia suspended both employees, initiated disciplinary proceedings against them, and informed the EPFO about the suspected fraud. The complaint later led to the CBI registering the case.
Responding to the matter, 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."
The CBI has booked the accused under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Information Technology Act.
