BENGALURU: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bengaluru zonal office, arrested Dilip BR on November 18 under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the case of Dilip BR & Others. He was produced before a special court and remanded in ED custody for seven days.
Calling him a “habitual offender involved in multiple offences such as bank loan fraud, identity theft and misuse and income tax refund scams”, the ED in an official release on Wednesday stated that “investigation revealed that Dilip has assumed multiple identities and obtained multiple PANs. He uses different aliases such as Dilip Rajegowda and Dilip Balaganchi Rajegowda. He has obtained three PANs and carried out various financial transactions using them. Dilip has allegedly defrauded several banks by obtaining vehicle loans under false pretence.”
The Central agency claimed that the accused, using forged credentials, was able to “obtain loans by falsifying identity and documents. He has committed numerous instances of identity theft by misappropriating the personal identification documents (PAN and Aadhaar) of multiple individuals, he illegally assumed the identity of others and opened multiple bank accounts in the names of various other individuals”.
‘Manupulation of I-T returns’
Giving an example of one of the “key” fraudulent tactics used by Dilip, the ED stated that he was involved in the “manipulation of income-tax returns to secure access of non-genuine refunds.
He has exploited vulnerabilities in the Kaveri and Jamabandi portals of Karnataka and Haryana governments to gather data on non-resident taxpayers, who had sold property in India with significant TDS deductions. Using Aadhaar and PAN data from property records, he forged documents to open bank accounts in the names of his targets, specifically choosing banks with lax KYC requirements,” the agency added.
The ED further stated that Dilip “accessed the e-filing portal of Income Tax department through these accounts, revised the ITRs to reduce tax liabilities, and increased refund amounts. Finally, he used fraudulent accounts to transfer the refunds to bank accounts under his control. Preliminary investigation suggests he has generated more than Rs10 crore of Proceeds of Crime and laundered them into gold, jewellery, cash and investment into cryptocurrencies,” the ED added.