ED raids properties of K’taka Congress MLA and former legislator in IMA case
The scam pertains to ₹4,000 crore collected by IMA Group from over 100,000 gullible investors in the name of providing attractive returns on investment. The raids are underway in multiple locations in Bengaluru
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at properties associated with Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan and former MLA Roshan Baig in connection with the I-Monetary Advisor (IMA) Ponzi scam case. The IMA scam pertains to ₹4,000 crore collected by IMA Group from over 100,000 gullible investors in the name of providing attractive returns on investment. The raids are underway in multiple locations in Bengaluru since Thursday morning.
According to officials in the know of the developments, the searches are being conducted by officers from New Delhi. So far, searches are underway at the two residences of Baig in Shivajinagar, and at the Chamarajpet residence of Khan, apart from the offices of National Travels, a firm he owns.
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On April 27, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a supplementary charge sheet against former Karnataka minister Baig in connection with the IMA Ponzi scam case. Baig was the minister for urban development in the Congress-led state government between 2014 and 2018. The CBI named the then MD of IMA Group, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, the company, Baig’s company Daanish Publications, and others in the charge sheet.
“It was alleged that the accused former minister received several crores of rupees from IMA funds for election expenditure. It was further alleged that the accused was also utilising the said funds for day-to-day expenditure, including salaries of employees of his firm. It was also alleged that the accused has spent the funds for various social and cultural activities in his constituency to increase his popularity,” read a statement from CBI.
While Zameer Ahmed Khan was questioned by ED and other agencies regarding his property transaction with IMA founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan, he has not been charged by any agency to date.
IMA was an investment banking company run by Mohammed Mansoor Khan, who claimed it was a Sharia-compliant operation run on Islamic principles, which took huge deposits primarily from members of the Muslim community. When IMA stopped paying dividends in March 2019, investors lodged complaints with the police, and in June 2019, the Karnataka government set up an SIT to investigate the more than 51,500 complaints that had been filed by investors.