IMA ponzi scam: CBI files charge sheet against two K'taka govt officials

The CBI has filed a charge sheet against two Karnataka government officials in the multi-crore I-Monetary Advisory ponzi scam case, alleging they took bribes from IMA promoter to give him a clean chit

The CBI has filed a charge sheet against two Karnataka government officials in the multi-crore I-Monetary Advisory ponzi scam case, alleging they took bribes from IMA promoter Mohammed Mansoor Khan to give him a clean chit, officials said on Monday.

The charge sheet was filed against the then assistant commissioner of Bengaluru North Taluk L C Nagaraj and village accountant Manjunath N after getting the state government's permission to prosecute them in the alleged Rs 4,000-crore scam, they said.

It has been alleged in the charge sheet that Nagaraj received a bribe of Rs 4.5 crore and Manjunath Rs 10 lakh, they said.

The scam surfaced in mid-2019 when Mansoor Khan suddenly fled to Dubai, from where he was later deported.

IN the charge sheet, the agency did not mention the then Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban District B M Vijay Shankar, who was named in the FIR, as he has passed away, they added.

It has been alleged that IMA group entities headed by Mansoor Khan had raised illegal and unauthorised deposits in an alleged in dishonest and fraudulent manner from innocent investors to the tune of over Rs 4,000 crore.

In its charge sheet filed recently before a special CBI court in Bengaluru, the CBI has alleged that Nagaraj received Rs 4.5 crore from Khan and other directors of IMA for giving a clean chit to IMA activities, while Manujnath as middleman had received Rs 10 lakh.

The case is an off-shoot of the IMA scam in which the CBI has filed two charge sheets against 22 accused, they said.

The agency has registered four separate FIRs related to the scam.

Along with Khan, 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 in its charge sheet has alleged that 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 in the IMA investment firm and gave a clean chit to Mohammed Mansoor Khan, who operated the ponzi scheme, the agency alleged.

Nagaraj received Rs 4.5 crore bribe for the clean chit, it alleged.

It added Shankar too accepted the report and forwarded it to the state government without verifying it.

Manjunath, the village accountant, allegedly acted as a middleman in this deal and accepted around Rs 10 lakh as a bribe, the CBI has alleged.