The Bengaluru police Friday arrested a person for allegedly impersonating a senior corporate official and defrauding a company of nearly Rs 6 crore by promising CSR grants.

The arrest followed a complaint last month by Sridhar Thimappa, an executive at Mysore Mercantile Company. The complainant alleged that a person named Gagan N Deep approached them, falsely claiming to be the Regional Head (Corporate Social Responsibility) at Infosys Ltd. The accused reportedly asserted that he worked under senior Infosys officials Harsh J and Niladri Prasad Mishra.

The accused expressed interest in the activities of the Heggunje Rajeeva Shetty Charitable Trust, which is run by Mysore Mercantile Company, and assured that he could facilitate CSR funding from Infosys. To further the deception, he allegedly sent a team of 4-5 individuals, including persons identified as Chethan and Tejas, to Udupi, Mangaluru, and other locations to assess the Trust’s activities.

The complainant stated that the accused then induced them to pay an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to purported ‘authorised vendors’ of Infosys as a precondition for approval of CSR grants. This included Rs 1.75 crore via demand drafts in favour of Anitha Ventures and Rs 3.75 crore via demand drafts in favour of ANS Engineerings, along with an additional Rs 30 lakh paid in cash through the accused’s driver near Nandi Upachar Hotel, Devanahalli.

The accused reportedly used a fabricated sanction letter from Infosys dated October 21, 2025, purportedly bearing the forged signature of Niladri Prasad Mishra. He also executed two ‘grant agreements’ – one dated January 8, 2026, for construction of over 855 houses worth Rs 179 crore across Karnataka, and another dated January 13, 2026, for primary health centres worth Rs 178 crore.

However, the complainant later discovered that the representations were allegedly false, the documents fabricated, and no CSR funds were ever sanctioned. Despite repeated follow-ups, neither were the promised grants released nor the money refunded.

Based on the complaint, the Devanahalli police station in Bengaluru registered an FIR under Sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation), 336(3) (forgery), 338 (using a forged document as genuine), and 341(1) (criminal intimidation) read with 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Meanwhile, the Infosys Foundation recently stated on its website, “The Infosys Foundation has been made aware of instances of fraudulent correspondence and potential scams falsely claiming association with the Infosys Foundation or its office bearers. Please be advised that the Infosys Foundation, its employees, grantees, or partner organisations do not request administrative fees for awarding a grant, approach individuals in person offering grant opportunities or offer investment opportunities.”