ED attaches assets, freezes bank account in counterfeit medicines racket; searches five premises in Bengaluru

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has conducted search and seizure operations at five premises linked to persons and entities allegedly involved in a counterfeit medicines racket in Karnataka. The agency has also frozen a bank account containing approximately ₹9 lakh belonging to one of the accused.

The searches were conducted under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as part of an ongoing money-laundering investigation arising from an FIR registered at Tavarekere police station on August 18, 2026.

The case originated from a joint raid conducted by the Drug Controlling Authority and police personnel at a residential property in C.K. Tandya village on August 18. During the raid, the accused were allegedly found storing medicines and pharmaceutical drugs without valid licences, permits or authorisations and replacing labels on the stored medicines.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Vamsi Krishna, Joint Commissioner (West), Bengaluru is probing the case. The FIR was registered under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957.

Since these offences are scheduled offences under the PMLA, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and initiated a money-laundering investigation. According to the ED investigation, a man identified as R.

Prashanth allegedly arranged a farmhouse near Bidadi to manufacture, repackage and relabel medicines without the requisite drug licence or permit. Cheap bulk pharmaceutical formulations allegedly sourced from manufacturing centres in various States were repackaged into new vials and fraudulently labelled as expensive Pfizer antibiotics, including Zavicefta and Emblaveo.

Although the vials allegedly contained generic medicines, they carried labels bearing the Pfizer brand name. The counterfeit medicines were allegedly distributed through M/s DM Pharmaceuticals and supplied to M/s Krupa Healthcare.

The latter subsequently supplied the medicines to other pharmaceutical entities and hospitals, mixing them with genuine medicines to avoid detection, the ED said. During the searches, the agency froze bank accounts belonging to Veeresh Kumar containing approximately ₹9 lakh.

Digital devices, records and other incriminating documents belonging to various persons were also seized. Further investigation is underway to identify the extent of the alleged money-laundering network and trace the proceeds of crime.