CBI questions former Karnataka minister in IMA scam case

The CBI on Thursday questioned former Karanataka minister Zameer Ahmed Khan in connection with I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam in which lakhs of investors were allegedly duped by the company promising them high returns using Islamic ways of investment, sources said.

The sources said former Karnataka food and civil supplies minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan was called at the agency office where he was questioned by the CBI team probing the IMA scam.

The CBI has already filed its first charge sheet against alleged mastermind Mansoor Khan and others on September 7, within eight days of taking over the case.

The CBI had taken over investigation into the case on August 30 night on the request of the Karanataka government, routed through the Centre, they said.

The company IMA and its subsidiaries had allegedly duped over a lakh investors, mostly Muslims, promising high returns using Islamic ways of investment.

"It was alleged that the founder director (Khan) of group of entities based at Bangalore had illegally collected deposits from the public in the form of investments on various ponzi schemes such as monthly plan, education plan, marriage plan, etc., with a promise of getting high returns," a CBI spokesperson had said after the FIR.

The lid went off the scam 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"