Karnataka government hands over IMA case to CBI

The Karnataka government on Monday handed over the I Monetary Advisory (IMA) multi-crore deposit scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The order was issued “considering the seriousness and the widespread ramifications of this illegal activity in the State.”
The Congress-JD(S) coalition, which lost the trust vote last month, had formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the pyramid scam in which over 40,000 people were duped largely in Bengaluru and across Karnataka. IMA founder Mansoor Khan had disappeared on June 7 after leaving behind an audio message to his investors in which he blamed politicians, bureaucrats for the state of his company's affairs.

Mansoor Khan returned to India on July 19 and was arrested in Delhi airport. Enforcement Directorate and SIT were simultaneously probing the scam and Khan was in SIT’s custody. Names of political leaders such as MLA Roshan Baig (formerly with Congress) and Zameer Ahmed Khan (former Congress minister) was linked to the scam and they were interrogated.

The BJP which was in the opposition had demanded the coalition government to hand over the case to the CBI. The state government’s order handing over the case to the CBI apprehends a nexus between persons/companies within and outside the state and patronage of several persons for the continuation of the fraud.