IMA used fake gold bars to lure investors, says SIT

The mystery behind the disappearance of “gold bars” stocked in IMA Jewels stores may finally be solved.

The “gold bars” were actually gold-plated copper bars that I Monetary Advisory (IMA) showcased at its jewellery showrooms to reassure existing investors and lure new ones, according to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is probing into the scam.

The SIT seized 5,880 fake gold bars, each weighing 50 grams, from a swimming pool on the terrace of a seven-storied apartment complex owned by IMA founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan in Richmond Town, central Bengaluru. The whole stash weighs 303 kg.

Khan, presently in the SIT’s custody, told the police about the stash during the interrogation. Sleuths found the copper bars concealed in an enclosure meant for a water motor pump.

The sleuths have arrested Wasim, a director in an IMA Group entity who was doubling up as the caretaker of the apartment which has now been sealed.

Until early June, when his so-called Halal investment company was up and running, Khan often boasted about the huge stockpile of the “gold bars”. One of the key selling points of IMA’s investment schemes was that every investor’s money was converted into gold bars which were then used in trading. Even if there was a loss in trading, investors’ money would be safe in the form of these “gold bars”.

A day before he fled to Dubai on June 8, Khan had instructed one of his directors Nizamuddin Azeemuddin to take the copper bars out of the jewellery stores and hide them in the apartment.