Bengaluru: The main accused in the multi-crore I Monetory Advisory (IMA) scam Mansoor Khan released yet another video on Monday expressing willingness to return to India. In the video, Khan, founder of IMA group of companies, said he would return to India in the next 24 hours.
"In the next 24 hours I will return to India on my own. I trust the Indian judiciary. I am making arrangements for my return. It was a mistake to leave India. But the situation was such. The kind of pressure by anti-social elements and politicians forced me to leave India. I don’t even know where and how my family is. I am unable to contact them,” Khan said in the seven-minute video.
Khan has been absconding for a month now after he released an audio threatening suicide due to a financial setback and “harassment by politicians”. He is accused of duping thousands of investors by offering saving options in line with Islamic laws.
“I have made a list of assets through which we can recover money. My moveable and immovable assets which were taken away through extortion, we will need to get that back through judiciary. I will co-operate with the judiciary. And my assets can be liquidated through the court. Then clients can be paid too. I am returning for this,” he said in the latest video. Stating that he was not keeping well, the chit fund scam accused said he needed to undergo a cardiac surgery for which he did not have enough money.
In the earlier video, Khan had said that he had property worth Rs 1,350 crore, which will be liquidated to pay off investors. In the same video, Khan had accused “99% of the people” of spreading fake news and claimed he never ran a Ponzi scheme as reported. He had also accused rebel Congress legislator Roshan Baig of having taken Rs 400 crore and not paying it back.
The Karnataka government has formed an 11-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by DIG BR Ravikanthe Gowda, to probe into the alleged fraud. Baig, who was supposed to turn up before the SIT on Monday, failed to do so, stating that he had some urgent work. The MLA wanted to appear on July 25 but the SIT directed him to depose on July 19 instead.
On July 8, the SIT also arrested Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru District (Urban) BM Vijayashankar for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 1.5 crore from Khan.
On June 20, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued the first summon to Khan directing him to appear before the agency on June 24. The next day, the SIT conducted a raid at IMA Jewels' office in New Delhi and seized jewellery worth Rs 20 crore. The SIT had arrested the firm’s auditor Iqbal Khan and seven directors of different entities linked to Khan. Over 40,000 complaints have been filed by investors demanding that their money be returned.
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