Pramesh Jain
IMA Multi-Crore Fraud case :IMA Key Accused Mastermind, Mohammed Mansoor Khan arrested in Delhi Airport by ED,&SIT :
“In its first of its kind in the history of Bengaluru city police the SIT officers has been successful in tracing and securing the key accused of biggest Multi-Crore Fraud case mastermind key accused,Mohammed Mansoor Khan nabbed in one and half month in a joint operation by ED&SIT.”
The main accused in the Multi-Crore I Monetory Advisory scam Mansoor Khan was arrested in a joint operation led by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Special Investigation Team formed by karnataka state government.Team led by DG&IGP of karnataka Neelamani N Raju,headed by DIG,DR.BR Ravikanthe Gowda under the supervision of DCP,Girish S,with the able guidance and directions by there senior officers has finally nabbed the mastermind kingpin Mansoor Khan after 45 days on Friday soon after he arrived in Delhi from the Dubai,UAE.
IMA founder Mansoor Khan, who is accused of perpetrating financial fraud worth crores,returned to India in the early hours of Friday.
Mohammed Mansoor Khan, the owner of IMA jewels, has been arrested in New Delhi and is being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), said a special investigation team (SIT) in Bengaluru which is probing the alleged ponzi scam.
Khan, who had fled to Dubai, flew back to India and was arrested on landing in Delhi, it said in a statement.
The SIT said that its sources in Dubai persuaded him to come back and submit himself before the law.
Accordingly he travelled from Dubai to New Delhi (Flight AI 916) and landed at 01550 hours IST.SIT officers are in Delhi to secure and arrest the accused,it said.
A lookout circular was issued against him by both SIT and ED and he would be handed over according to procedure, the SIT said.
The mastermind behind the Ponzi scam is being quizzed and grilled by ED officials in New Delhi and will later be sent to Bengaluru for a detailed probe by the SIT.
SIT Chief,DIG,Dr.BR Ravikanthe Gowda,chief of the Special Investigation team probing the matter, said,An SIT team under the supervision of DCP Girish S and his team of 11 members SIT officers with the reliable sources has located IMA founder-owner Mohammed Mansoor Khan in Dubai, through its sources,and persuaded him to come back to India and submit himself before law. Accordingly, he has travelled from Dubai to New Delhi.SIT officers are in Delhi to secure and arrest him.As Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued against him by both Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Enforcement Directorate (ED), he will be handed over according to the procedures and at present he is in Joint custody of Enforcement directorate and SIT and as on 19th as per the notice issued to former Minister Shivajinagar MLA R Roshan Baig to appear before us for questioning has appeared today before SIT and submitted relevant records for perusal and the SIT team will go through the records.If further questioning is required he will be called again said by SIT Chief,Dr.BR.Ravikanthe Gowda.
More than one lakh people had invested in the IMA Jewels which started 17 companies.Khan invited people, mostly Muslims, to invest in five companies, said the SIT, adding that Rs 4,084 crore was invested in the company.He has to refund approximately Rs 1,400 crore to his investors, the SIT said.
Around one and half months ago, Khan had fled to Dubai leaving thousands of investors in lurch.
Khan had promised his investors that he would return to India and would refund their money.
Based on thousands of complaints, the SIT registered a case against him and others. It has so far arrested more than 22 people, including Mohammed Mansoor Khan,12 directors of the firm,accused has been identified as,Dada Peer, Nasir Hussain, Naveed Ahmed Nattamkar, Nizammudin Azeemuddin, Afshan Tabassum,Afsar Pasha and Arshad Khan,Auditor Iqbal khan,Mohammed Idris,Shabad Akbar Khan,Israr Ahmed Khan,Usman Arbaize,Fuzail Ahmed,with Nominated corporator,Syed Mujahid,BDA Executive Engineer,Kumar,Assistant Commissioner North,LC Nagaraj,Bengaluru urban,Deputy Commissioner,BM Vijayshankar,Village Accountant Manjunath,Moulvi,Haneef Afsar Azeez,Brigade Babu,Muneer alias Gun Muneer,another Moulvi identified as,Umar Sharieff,and the main accused fugitive,Mohammed Mansoor Khan also been arrested jointly by Enforcement Directorate and SIT.
Before fleeing he had accused Shivajinagar Congress MLA R Roshan Baig of taking Rs 400 crore and not returning it.Baig categorically refuted the charge, terming it false and frivolous. The MLA who had rebelled against the party was suspended for anti-party activities.Baig then joined the bandwagon of rebel MLAs who resigned.The SIT had served him a notice to depose before it on July 15, but he sought time till July 25th.The SIT then asked him to be present before it on July 19.The day Baig was supposed to appear before SIT, he planned to fly to Mumbai by a special chartered plane but the SIT detained him and quizzed him extensively.The SIT released Baig and asked him to appear on July 19 and asked him to appear before them.
Earlier, on Monday, in a video message, Mansoor Khan had said, “God willing, I will return to India in the next 24 hours, I have full faith in Indian judiciary. First of all, leaving India was a big mistake, but circumstances were such that I had to leave. I don’t even know where my family is.
While Bengaluru DC,Vijay Shankar got Rs 1.5 crore,Nagaraj received Rs 4 crore from Khan to cover up the case and issue favourable reports repeatedly for IMA Jewels, after the Reserve Bank of India expressed concern about the functioning of the firm.
Two Moulana as Moulvi arrested for provoking or propagating investors to invest in IMA :
Meanwhile as on July 11th based on credible inputs the SIT team has arrested a maulvi on charge of Propagating people to invest in the IMA ponzi scheme.The arrested, Haneef Afsar Azeezi who worked as a priest at Masjid-e-Beparian in Shivajinagar is alleged to have influenced several people by Propagating them to invest in IMA in the name of Halal.For this the absconded prime accused IMA founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan has gifted the Moulvi a three storied building in HRBR layout in the year 2017,worth of Rs.3 Crores has also been seized and the moulvi who was arrested on thursday July 11th,for encouraging Muslims to invest in IMA, has also been remanded in judicial custody till July 25th and further investigation is on and as on July 18th Another Moulana a Moulvi identified as Umar Sharieff (42) year old,Running a School by name.“Al Basheer” near off Banneraghatta Road,Bangalore.who is also a social activist,Educationist.Propagating for IMA and Mansoor Khan for last 5 Yrs.He has taken gifts as Rs. 60 Lakh in cash,with a 15 Lakh Rs worth Ashok Leyland Van for propagating IMA from Mansoor Khan.the SIT has produced the accused before the court and he has been remanded to Police custody till 22.07.2019.
Others who have been arrested include a corporator, a Bangalore Development Authority officer and a village accountant.
The SIT had in the past raided many IMA showrooms and recovered cash, gold, silver, valuable gems and costly perfumes.
The ED which has registered a money laundering case in the scam in which thousands of depositors are said to have been duped, had attached assets worth Rs 209 crore,including 20 immovable properties and bank deposits, in connection with the case.
Over 40,000 complaints have been filed against the company, demanding that their money be returned.
