94 fake PF accounts, Rs 19.33 crore stolen: CBI case against senior Nokia officials

The CBI has registered a case against two senior employees of electronics giant Nokia in Mumbai for orchestrating a fraud that resulted in the wrongful withdrawal of Rs 19.33 crore from the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) by creating fictitious PF accounts.The accused have been identified as Vaibhav Verma, Payroll Cluster Lead and Kamaraju Mutyala, Head of Payroll Management.According to the central agency, the two created 94 fake employee provident fund accounts during 2023-24 and diverted Rs 19.33 crore into them. The FIR also names unknown public servants and private individuals as accused for their role in the conspiracy.Nokia was functioning as an "exempted establishment" under the Emaployees' Provident Fund Act, which allowed the company to manage these funds through its own internal, privately managed PF trust. In July 2023, it applied to surrender its exemption status and was approved. After receiving the approval, Nokia transferred all past member accumulations to the EPFO and began operating as an un-exempted establishment from September 2023. The fraud surfaced during the processes that followed this transfer.The EPFO's Zonal Fraud Risk Management Committee has found large-scale irregularities and identified 94 non-genuine beneficiary accounts that received provident fund payments. Simultaneously, Nokia conducted an internal forensic audit into the irregularities. The audit identified Verma and Mutyala as the officials responsible for processing the fraudulent fund transfers.The forensic investigation recovered deleted submission files from the accused's laptops, electronic records containing details of individuals who were not employees of the company, false employment confirmations and Know Your Customer (KYC) approvals for fake accounts that were processed using official credentials, according to the investigation.Following the internal probe, Nokia suspended both employees, initiated disciplinary proceedings against them and informed the EPFO about the fraud. The complaint subsequently led to the registration of the CBI case.Responding to the development, 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 FIR has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Information Technology Act.- EndsPublished On: Jul 31, 2026 08:04 IST