CBI arrests one for fraudulent withdrawal of EPFO claims through identity theft

New Delhi [India], June 12 : Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested an accused for alleged involvement in fraudulent withdrawal of EPFO claims through identity theft.

The arrested accused was produced before the Competent Court and remanded to 4 days police custody.

CBI said that a case was already registered in this regard on February 8, 2022.

"A case was registered on February 8, 2022 against seven establishments and other unknown individuals on a complaint from Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) related to alleged fraudulent activities involving identity theft, aimed at illegally withdrawing funds from the PF accounts of genuine beneficiaries," an official statement said.

"It was alleged that the accused had adopted the modus operandi to target individuals whose Aadhaar cards were not linked to their PF accounts. It was further alleged that the fraudsters obtained an Aadhaar card with identical name, date of birth, and gender by submitting forged documents to update an existing Aadhaar card," it added.

CBI said that fraudsters registered the altered Aadhaar card with fictitious establishments and link it to the respective establishments.

"The fraudsters fraudulently withdraw PF funds by filing multiple online claims on behalf of genuine PF members," an official statement said.

Searches were conducted at eight premises belonging to the accused and others located in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Delhi which led to recovery of various incriminating documents, mobile phones, ATM cards, cheque books and passbooks etc, the statement said.