EPFO Officer arrested by CBI for seeking Bribe

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an accused Enforcement Officer of EPFO, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu while accepting a bribe amount of Rs. 2 lakh from the complainant.

CBI has filed a complaint against the Enforcement Officer, EPFO, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, alleging that the accused demanded a bribe of Rs. 15 lakh from the complainant, who runs a software firm in Tirunelveli.

It was also alleged that the accused demanded the said bribe for not taking action against the company which availed the Central Government ABRY scheme i.e. Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana (a scheme to boost the creation of new jobs in the formal sector through support of EPF contributions by the Central Government for new employees).

It has also been claimed that the accused official obtained and checked documents from the complainant company and discovered that the company had received a sum of Rs. 3 crore (approx.) under the Central Government ABRY scheme. He allegedly demanded 5% of the said sum as a bribe from the plaintiff.

The CBI set a trap and arrested the accused EPFO officer red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs. 2 lakh as an advance.

The investigation is continuing.