IMA ponzi scheme victims will get compensation before Ramzan, says Karnataka minister

Bengaluru: Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Monday assured the victims of the IMA ponzi scheme that they will receive their due compensation before the Ramzan festival.

A discussion was held on Monday at the Vikas Soudha office regarding the total amount involved in the IMA scam, the value of movable and immovable assets seized so far, the amount refunded to victims over the past seven years, and the timeline and method for compensating the remaining victims, a statement issued by the Minister's office said.

Minister Zameer Ahmed, MLA Rizwan Arshad, Chief Minister’s Political Secretary Naseer Ahmed, and several victims of the IMA scam were also present there.

"The minister assured the victims that steps would be taken to distribute compensation based on the proportion of their investments at least 10 days before Ramzan," the statement read.

According to the statement, over one lakh depositors invested Rs 3,213.58 crore in IMA in hopes of doubling their money, but they were defrauded.

"The total number of depositors was 69,069.... Rs 1,400 crore had been returned as dividends from time to time. After the scam came to light, Rs 19.12 crore from the company’s accounts was distributed to 6,858 victims at Rs 50,000 per person in April 2022, as per the orders of a special court," the statement read.

It further said that on November 8, 2023, Rs 66.66 crore was credited to 53,142 victims' accounts, on May 23, 2024, Rs 1.28 crore was credited to 626 victims’ accounts and on November 7, 2024, Rs 36.14 lakh was credited to 276 victims’ accounts.

"In total, Rs 87.43 crore has been credited to the accounts of 60,902 victims so far," it explained.

The government has already seized more than 10 properties linked to IMA, with movable assets valued at Rs 106.92 crore and immovable assets estimated at Rs 401.92 crore, the statement said.

It further said that additionally, Rs 2.88 crore was seized from various company bank accounts, along with Rs 11.72 crore in cash and Rs 11.06 crore in investment certificates, bringing the total seized amount to Rs 534.5 crore.

Following the High Court's directive these assets will soon be auctioned, and the proceeds will be distributed to investors, said the statement.

Promising high returns, IMA operator Mohammed Mansoor Khan had allegedly duped over a lakh investors, mostly Muslims.

He had promised them that his company promoted Islamic way of investment.

Many touts and some religious preachers were also among those who lured people to invest in the IMA, police said.

The case came to light when Khan fled to Dubai, leaving behind a video message, saying that he was committing suicide because of "corruption in the state and central governments".

Khan was arrested on July 21 on his arrival in New Delhi by the Enforcement Directorate and is currently in judicial custody.

Before fleeing the country, Khan had even accused the then Shivajinagar MLA R Roshan Baig, who has been disqualified from the assembly on a request by the Congress for his anti-party activities, of taking Rs 400 crore from him and not returning it.

Baig had outrightly rejected the claim, saying that the charges were false, baseless and frivolous.

As complaints started pouring in, the Karnataka government constituted a Special Investigation Team and later handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The CBI arrested Baig in November 2020 and but was later released on bail.

Over 25 people, including 12 directors of the firm, a corporator, husband of a corporator, the deputy commissioner of Bengaluru urban, assistant commissioner of Bengaluru north sub-division, a Bengaluru Development Authority officer and a village accountant were among those arrested in connection with the case.