CBI books 2 officials of telecom firm for fraudulent withdrawal of PF worth ₹19.33 cr

CBI booked Vaibhav Verma and Kamaraju Mutyala, employees of Nokia Solutions & Networks India Pvt Ltd, for fraudulent PF withdrawal of ₹19.33 crore from EPFO using 94 fictitious employees' names.

FIR registered on July 16 based on EPFO's complaint; officials booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Prevention of Corruption Act, and Information Technology Act.

Nokia submitted complaint to EPFO in January 2025 after internal probe found Verma (payroll cluster lead) and Mutyala (head of payroll management) responsible for processing PF transfer requests.

Internal probe found they deleted files from laptops and used official credentials to approve KYC of suspected fake employees.

Nokia placed both officials under suspension and initiated disciplinary proceedings based on forensic audit findings.