CBI seeks Karnataka government's sanction to prosecute 3 officials

The CBI has sought sanction from the Karnataka government to prosecute an IAS officer and two others in connection with the IMA Ponzi scheme, in which lakhs of people were duped after promising high returns using Islamic way of investment, the agency sources said.

The officials are then Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban District B M Vijay Shankar, the then assistant commissioner of Bengaluru North Taluk L C Nagaraj and village accountant Manjunath N, the sources told PTI on Thursday.

When the state government received complaints about the shady activities of the I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) jewels, it directed the district authorities to probe it. L C Nagaraj prepared a report stating that there was nothing wrong with the IMA investment firm and gave a clean chit to Mohammed Mansoor Khan, who operated the Ponzi scheme, the sources said.

He added Shankar too accepted the report and without verifying forwarded it to the state government. Manjunath, the village accountant, allegedly acted as a middleman in this deal and accepted around Rs 1.5 crore as bribe from a builder, CBI sources added.

The case surfaced in mid-2019 when Mansoor Khan suddenly fled to Dubai, from where he was later deported. Along with him the directors and others who benefited from the scheme were arrested. In all, around 25 people were arrested in connection with the scam.

The CBI, which had filed its first charge sheet in the case in September last year, has also sought permission to prosecute two IPS officials in connection with the case. The agency has charged Khan, the then managing director of I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) jewels, and 19 other accused -- seven company directors, five members, an auditor, a private person, and five private group companies -- for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating among other charges under the Indian Penal Code.

The CBI had taken over the investigation into the case on August 30 last year on the request of the Karanataka government, routed through the Centre. According to the CBI sources, the size of the scam is of Rs 4,000 crore where more than a lakh people have been duped. A majority of the victims are Muslims who were convinced that the scheme promotes Islamic investment.