In a huge setback for the Congress-JDS government, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, the main accused in the multi-crore IMA Ponzi scam also being called the Halal investment scam, has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in New Delhi at about 1:50 AM today.
According to the reports, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, allegedly backed by Congress leaders had escaped from the country after multi-crore IMA Ponzi surfaced into the public. On Friday, Mansoor Khan returned to New Delhi from Dubai
Both Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued a lookout notice against Mansoor Khan while trying to persuade him to return to India and join the investigation.
“An SIT team located IMA founder-owner Mohd Mansoor Khan in Dubai, through its sources, and persuaded him to come back to India and submit himself before the law. Accordingly, he has travelled from Dubai to New Delhi. SIT officers are in Delhi to secure and arrest him,” said Ravikanthe Gowda, chief of the Special Investigation Team probing the matter.
Earlier, on Monday, Mansoor Khan had released a video message, “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.”
This video comes in the backdrop of another video he had released addressing the Bengaluru police commissioner that he wished to return to India and expose all those involved in the downfall of his business venture.
In the video, released on June 23, two weeks after the IMA scam broke, Mansoor had also claimed that “the real culprits” behind the scam included some big names at the state and central levels”.
The Enforcement Directorate, which is currently questioning Mansoor Khan, had filed a case of money laundering against IMA Jewels and later summoned the businessman to appear before the central agency’s zonal office in Bengaluru on June 24. It had requested the Interpol to issue a Blue Corner Notice, used to locate suspects.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) began its probe in the matter and found that Congress Karnataka minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan had some involvement in the IMA Ponzi scam. He was later summoned by ED for questioning in the case.
Prior to this, senior Congress leader and MLA Roshan Baig’s name had surfaced in the case after he was accused by the IMA founder of taking Rs 400 crore from the latter and not returning. The absconding ‘halal’ investment owner, Mansoor Khan had released an audio clip, in which he had accused Baig of arm twisting and refusing to return Rs 400 crore.
Mansoor Khan, the owner of I Monetary Advisory (IMA), which provided investment options keeping with Islamic laws, fled India in June. He had left behind an audio clip threatening to commit suicide.
More than 30,000 complaints were filed against the firm and many held protests at the Bengaluru Freedom Park. Mansoor Khan has maintained that his financial venture was no Ponzi scheme, and he would do everything in his power to ensure that the investors are compensated.
