'Ponzi scam victims can submit claim documents online'

In what may come as a relief to about one lakh people who lost money in various Ponzi scams, the state government is planning to receive their claim documents online.

State Public Prosecutor M Narayana Reddy announced this at a conference that discussed ways to deliver justice to the victims of IMA, Ambidant, Injaz, Ajmera, Aala and other Ponzi schemes on Saturday.

“In cases of investment schemes, the state government issues a notification, seeking the documents of the investment. Victims have to submit the documents within a week. There are cases where the victims have been waiting for decades to get their money back,” he said.

The online procedure is an easier alternative to the physical process of collecting and verifying the claim documents, he added.

Ravi Krishna Reddy, of the Lanchamukta Karnataka Nirmana Vedike, said IMA and other companies had lured Muslims by using their community leaders.

“People’s representatives and police officers took bribes to facilitate the swindling of innocent victims,” he said, and referred to unconfirmed reports that a police deputy commissioner took Rs 13 crore and 25 kg of gold from Mohammed Mansoor Khan, the founder of IMA.

Reddy asked for punishing such people along with the main culprits.

The conference was attended by about 500 people — almost all of whom had lost money in the Ponzi scams — from across Karnataka. Speakers at the conference dwelt on the legal options and frameworks used by government authorities to help the victims get their money back.

There were also elaborate discussions on the merits and demerits of various laws related to investment schemes.