ED arrests Bengaluru man for Income Tax returns, refund ‘fraud’

PTI, Nov 20, 2024, 8:45 PM IST

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate Wednesday said it has arrested a man from Bengaluru under the anti-money laundering law for allegedly manipulating Income Tax Returns (ITRs) to obtain fraudulent refunds.

Dilip B R was taken into custody on November 18 and a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court sent him to ED custody for seven days, the federal agency said in a statement.

“One of the key fraudulent tactics used by Dilip B R was the manipulation of ITRs to secure access to non-genuine refunds,” the ED alleged.

A probe found that the accused “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 (tax deducted at source) deductions, it said.

“Using Aadhaar and PAN (permanent account number) 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 ED claimed.

The accused then accessed the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department through these accounts, revised the ITRs to reduce tax liabilities and increased refund amounts, it alleged.

Finally, he used “fraudulent” accounts to transfer the refunds to bank accounts under his control, the agency claimed.

Preliminary investigation suggests that Dilip B R generated more than Rs 10 crore as proceeds of crime and laundered them into gold, jewellery, cash and investment into cryptocurrencies, it claimed.

According to the ED, the man is a “habitual offender” involved in multiple offences such as bank loan fraud and identity theft cases.

He “assumed” multiple identities and obtained multiple PANs using different names such as Dilip B R alias Dilip Rajegowda alias Dilip Balaganchi Rajegowda, as per the agency.

He allegedly “defrauded” several banks by obtaining vehicle loans under false pretences, it claimed.