NEW DELHI:
The CBI filed a supplementary charge sheet against former Karnataka minister Roshan Baig on Tuesday in connection with the Rs 4000-crore I-Monetary Advisor (IMA) ponzi scam case, officials said.
In its charge sheet filed before a special CBI court in Bengaluru, the central agency has also named the then MD of IMA Group Mansoor Khan, the company, Baig’s company Daanish Publications and others.
‘It was alleged that the accused former minister received several crores of rupees from IMA funds for election expenditure. It was further alleged that the accused was also utilising the said funds for day-to-day expenditure, including salaries of employees of his firm. It was also alleged that the accused has spent the funds for various social and cultural activities in his constituency to increase his popularity,’ CBI spokesperson R C Joshi said in a statement.
The IMA scam pertains to over Rs 4,000 crore collected by IMA Group from over a lakh gullible investors in the name of providing attractive returns on investment following Islamic ways.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that the money was diverted to Baig, a minister in the erstwhile Congress government led by Siddaramaiah, so that the IMA Group could continue its illegal activities, officials said.
The CBI had registered four cases in connection with the scam and earlier filed three charge sheets and three supplementary charge sheets against 33 accused, including Khan, company directors, several revenue and police officials. ‘It was alleged that the said Group had raised unauthorised deposits & cheated the public by failing to repay the principal and as well as the promised returns. These funds were allegedly diverted for acquiring properties, paying bribe amounts, etc. Several properties, including moveable & immovable, were identified and attached under KPIDFE (Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments) Act, 2004 by the competent authority,’ Joshi said. PTI
