Dubai resident Robin Uthappa faces arrest warrant in Bengaluru over PF fraud
Former India and Karnataka cricketer Robin Uthappa has found himself in the middle of a controversy after an arrest warrant was recently issued against him in Bengaluru. Uthappa is the director of Centaurus Lifestyle Brands Pvt Ltd. The 39-year-old is in trouble over a Provident Fund (PF) fraud.
Centaurus Lifestyle Brands Pvt Ltd has allegedly failed to deposit INR 23 lakh into the PF accounts of its employees. The amount was deducted from their salaries.
Shadakshara Gopala Reddy, the Regional PF Commissioner - II and Recovery Officer, ordered the Pulakeshinagar police station, which falls in East Bengaluru, to issue the arrest warrant against Uthappa (dated December 4).
Uthappa is currently a resident of Dubai and has not resided at the address mentioned in the warrant for more than a year, the police revealed. Therefore, the warrant has been returned to the PF office which is located in KR Puram, as the former India cricketer does not fall under their jurisdiction anymore.
No FIR registered against Robin Uthappa, says Senior Officer
According to The Times of India, a senior officer clarified that no FIR was registered against Robin Uthappa.
"We received the letter from the PF office a week ago, requesting the execution of the arrest warrant. Uthappa previously lived in an apartment on Wheeler Road in Pulakeshinagar. Our staff visited the address and learned that he vacated the property a year ago and now resides in Dubai. We have communicated this to the PF office," the officer was quoted as saying.
The details of the warrant were released in an official statement as follows:
"This is to inform you that T.K. Krishna Das, director of M/S Centaurus Lifestyle Brands Pvt Ltd, located at HAL Second Stage in Indiranagar, has failed to remit damages under sections 7A, 14B, and 7Q of the Employees’ Provident Funds (EPF) and Miscellaneous Provisions (MP) Act, 1952. The outstanding amount is Rs 23,36,602, including Rs 6,550 towards recovery."
"You are kindly requested to execute the enclosed warrant of arrest for Robin Uthappa, director of the establishment, through the station in charge under whose jurisdiction the employer resides."
Rule 73 of the Second Schedule of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and Section 8B of the EPF and MP Act were cited in the letter too, requesting Uthappa to be arrested and produced before the undersigned on or before December 27 to carry out further proceedings in the case.