CBI case against five corrupt Visakhapatnam Provident Fund officers

On Friday, 29 April 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Visakhapatnam, along with vigilance officers at the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPOF), conducted a surprise check at the EPOF office. It was found that five employees of different cadres were involved in corrupt practices During the period between 1 April 2020 and 25 April 2022, these officials have received money from various sources into their personal bank accounts. A case has been filed by the CBI Visakhapatnam against the EPOF officers under various sections of the PC Act 1988.

Section supervisors P Ramakrishna, KVSSM Varahal, K Viswanadham and senior security assistants S Kishore and M Murali Krishna were the officials involved in corruption. These officers were found guilty of being bribed for services such as Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR) generation post office hours and on holidays. During the aforementioned time period, the bank account of P Mahalakshmi w/o P Ramakrishna has been credited with over Rs 4,50,000 on different occasion. The descriptions of some of the transactions read “PF fee” and “PF consultancy”. Similarly, M Malathi w/o M Murali Krishna has received Rs 1,20,000 during the same time period for similar favours to various companies.

The remaining accused officials were also found guilty of power abuse and malpractice. These services have reportedly benefitted various private persons and companies. A further investigation will be carried out by the CBI officials.