fraudulent  P.F withdrawals 

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) chief vigilance officer Sanjay Kumar has flagged an internal investigation that has found fraudulent withdrawals, orchestrated in accounts that have not had fresh inflows for years. Such claims managed to evade all checks and balances in the system and PF staffers were pressured using 'all possible means' to clear these fake claims swiftly. 

"The fraud was committed in inoperative accounts... mainly in respect of establishments where (PF) remittances had not been received for many years, records not updated and firms had not submitted statutory returns... No claims were received or settled since long," Kumar said, urging field offices to keep 'special watch and remain alert' while processing claims from closed establishments and inoperative accounts. 

Insiders seem to have colluded with the scamsters in identifying dormant accounts and actively facilitating their loot. This also brings into question the Know Your Customer or KYC normsfollowed by banks. "The claims were settled by putting pressure on dealing hands/office by all possible means. In all these cases, the amount settled had been sent through NEFT (electronic funds transfer) in the bank accounts opened with forged identity," Kumar has said in a letter warning EPFO's field offices about the scam. "This has been the modus operandi that has been used in the EPF office over the years, but we have said this is unacceptable and initiated action against it," said a senior official. 

He, however, said that all such fraudulent withdrawals may not be criminal in nature as some employers often create PF accounts for their relatives showing them as employees