CBI questions 2 IAS officers in provident fund fraud case
NEWDELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation has questioned IAS officers of Uttar Pradesh cadre—Alok Kumar and Aparna U—in connection with the alleged irregularities in investment of over ₹4,300 crore of provident fund of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited employees in the scam hit DHFL (Dewan Housing Finance Ltd), run by Dheeraj and Kapil Wadhawan, and other housing finance companies, said officials.
Wadhwans are currently in CBI custody in connection with the YES Bank probe.
While Kumar, 1988-batch officer was questioned for over eight hours, Aparna U, 2001-batch officer, was questioned for nearly six hours during Saturday.
According to the UP government website, Kumar is presently posted as Principal Secretary UP Infrastructure and Industrial Development while Aparna is posted as Secretary in the Irrigation and Water Resources department of state government.
During the investigation of UPPCL PF scam, the CBI has found that over ₹4,323 crore of hard earned savings of UPPCL employees under provident fund was allegedly invested in DHFL and other housing finance companies during Kumar’s tenure as the chairman of UPPCL in 2017-19, officials said.
Aparna U was also involved in the investment of ₹3,245 crore in DHFL and other companies out of the total amount of ₹4,323 crore, they added.
According to a CBI FIR in the case, it is alleged that a total of ₹4,122.70 crore was invested in the DHFL, out of which ₹2,267.90 crore is still outstanding, officials said.
The CBI took over the investigation into the scam on March 5 this year from UP police.
The Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) is facing multiple probes after a report suggested that the company, through layers of shell companies, allegedly siphoned off ₹31,000 crore out of the total was bank loan of ₹97,000 crore.
It is also alleged that the officials of UPPCL conspired to get the provident funds deposited in schemes of DHFL circumventing the rules which did not encourage such investments.