E-Paper
ED searches not related to IMA scam: Cong MLA
Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan said on Friday that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at his residence to get details about his house, including its cost, claiming that the action was not related to the ₹4000-crore IMA Ponzi scam
Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan said on Friday that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at his residence to get details about his house, including its cost, claiming that the action was not related to the ₹4000-crore IMA Ponzi scam.
ED searched Khan’s house on Thursday that continued for hours, fuelling speculations that it could be related to his alleged role in the IMA scandal. The ₹4,000-crore scam pertains to money collected by IMA Group from over 100,000 investors in the name of providing attractive returns on investments.
“At around 7.30-8 am (Thursday) ED officials came. They had come in connection with getting information about my house. They asked as to when the land was purchased, when the house was constructed and account for it. I have given all the information to them. I told them that white money has been used for construction of the house,” Khan told reporters in Bengaluru.
The MLA from Chamrajapet in Bengaluru said officials had taken one of his brothers to the bank to get transaction details, adding that they were “satisfied” with the responses.
Khan, however, said the ED officials have told him that he should report to them whenever they seek more information. He denied that he was served any notice.
The raids had sparked off a war of words between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, with the latter accusing the Centre of misusing investigative agencies to target political rivals.
Khan has a palatial house near the Cantonment railway station that took seven years to be constructed. The house was among the places that were searched.
On April 27, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a supplementary charge sheet against former Karnataka minister R Roshan Baig in connection with the IMA Ponzi scam. 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 and Baig’s company Daanish Publications, among others, in the charge sheet.
“It was alleged that the accused former minister received crores of rupees from IMA funds for election expenditure. It was further alleged that the accused was utilising the said funds for day-to-day expenditure, including paying salaries to the 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 Khan was questioned by ED and other agencies regarding his property transactions with IMA founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan, he has not been charged by any agency so far.
IMA was an investment banking company run by Mansoor Khan, who claimed that it was a Sharia-compliant operation. The company took huge deposits primarily from members of the Muslim community. When IMA stopped paying dividends in March 2019, investors lodged complaints with the police. In June 2019, the Karnataka government set up an SIT to investigate around 51,500 complaints that had been filed by investors.
