The CBI has registered a case against unknown officials of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on the charge of abusing their position in the disbursement of funds to St. John’s Employees Welfare Society, Thoothukudi, for a housing scheme under the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana.
The allegation is that during 2017-19, the suspected officials of the EPFO, Tirunelveli, entered into a criminal conspiracy with G. Thomas, president, St. John Employees Welfare Society, by releasing the provident fund amount that was allegedly misused. Going by the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana, provident fund subscribers having more than three years of membership could avail themselves of 90% of the employees’ and employers’ contribution with interest for the purchase of plot and house, construction of house, additional construction of house and repayment of loan.
A society should be formed to make such claims and funds unutilised should be returned to the employee’s account with a 2% penal interest from the date of disbursement. Accordingly, St. John’s Freight System Ltd. formed St. John’s Employees’ Welfare Society and ₹1.84 crore was credited to its account for the purchase of land and construction of houses for 141 employees.
In its FIR, the CBI said the fund was sanctioned despite the proceedings for default on payment of provident fund contribution was pending against Mr. Thomas. The procedures prescribed under the Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme, 1952, were not complied with. The amount sanctioned was misused by Mr. Thomas, and no plot was allotted to the members. The unutilised money was not returned to the employees’ provident fund accounts. Besides Section 120-B (Criminal conspiracy) and 406 (Criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code, the investigating agency invoked provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the accused persons.
