IMA ponzi scam: SIT asks suspended Congress MLA to appear before it

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating Bengaluru-based IMA group over allegations of a ponzi scam issued a notice to Congress rebel Roshan Baig on Tuesday asking him to appear for questioning.

Baig, who resigned from Karnataka Assembly earlier in the day, has been asked to appear before investigators on Thursday.

Baig, an MLA who represents Shivajinagar assembly segment, has been suspended from the party for indiscipline.


"Yes. We have served a notice," an investigating officer of the SIT told PTI.

Baig’s name came up in investigations into the supposed ponzi scheme after IMA jewels founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan, whose whereabouts have been unknown since allegations of a scam came to light last month, accused Baig of having taken Rs 400 crore from him.

Baig has denied the charges saying they were "frivolous, baseless and mischievous" and blamed some of his rivals within the Congress party for having “dragged his name” into the scam.

Khan has been accused of cheating investors, mostly Muslims, of crores of rupees. Investigators say that his investors were not just limited to Karnataka, but were widespread—there are allegations that he may have lured people from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and even as far away as Delhi, to invest in his scheme.

Five people have so far been arrested over the alleged scam, including Bengaluru’s urban district deputy commissioner BM Vijay Shankar and assistant commissioner of Bengaluru North sub-division LC Nagaraj.

Khan is believed to have paid Shankar Rs 1.5 crore and Nagaraj Rs 4 crore to cover up his operations and make favourable reports for IMA Jewels after the Reserved Bank of India voiced concern about the functioning of the firm.

A corporator, a Bangalore Development Authority officer and a village accountant have also been arrested in connection with the investigations.