The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), officials on Monday arrested an alleged conman Dilip B. R. in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 case from Bengaluru. ED claimed their probe revealed that Dilip is a habitual offender involved in multiple offences such as bank loan fraud, theft and misuse of identity and income tax refund scams.
He was produced before the special court and taken into seven days custody for further investigations .
Using multiple identities, Dilip has allegedly obtained multiple PAN cards. He has obtained three PANs and has carried out various financial transactions using them.
“One of the key fraudulent tactics used by Dilip involved the manipulation of income tax returns to secure access of non-genuine refunds. Dilip has exploited vulnerabilities in the Kaveri and Jamabandi portals of Karnataka and Haryana State 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, “ ED said.
The accused also accessed the e-filing portal of Income Tax department through these accounts, revised the ITRs to reduce tax liabilities, and increased refund amounts. He used fraudulent accounts to transfer the refunds to bank accounts under his control. Preliminary Investigation suggests that he has generated more than ₹10 Crore of proceeds and laundered them into gold, jewellery, cash and investment into cryptocurrencies, the official release said on Wednesday.
“Dilip has allegedly defrauded several banks by obtaining vehicle loans under false pretences. Using forged credentials, he has been able to obtain loans by falsifying his identity and documents. The accused has committed numerous instances of identity theft by misappropriating the personal identification documents (PAN and Aadhaar) of multiple individuals. By illegally assuming the identity of others, Dilip has opened multiple bank accounts in the names of various other individuals,” ED further said.
Published - November 21, 2024 12:50 am IST
