Justice continues to elude IMA scam victims

Hameed Ashraf | NT
Bengaluru

It has been more than three years since the fraudulent Ponzi scam from I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) was busted, but still there are thousands of victims who are struggling to keep their families afloat after they were swindled of their savings. On Saturday, hundreds of such victims held a protest gathering outside the IMA office in Shivajinagar demanding repayment of their funds and stringent action against the scam culprits.

Anwar Haroon, a resident of Nayandhalli and one of the investors in the IMA jewels, said, “Despite complaints and running around police stations, there has been no respite so far,” he said. Like him, most of the victims are middle-aged and belong to the working class. They had invested a significant chunk of their life’s financial reserves into various IMA schemes.

“The victims are struggling after investing their hard-earned money and the swindlers have purchased expensive properties with the money extorted from the poor,” he lamented. More than one lakh people had invested in the IMA Jewels, which started 17 companies.

IMA Founder Mansoor Khan invited people, mostly Muslims, to invest in five companies, said the Special Investigation Team (SIT), adding that Rs 4,084 crore was invested in the company. He has to refund approximately Rs 1,400 crore to his investors, the SIT said. Around one and half months ago, Khan had fled to Dubai leaving thousands of investors in the lurch.

Khan had promised them that he would return to India and refund their money. Meanwhile, the protestors in Shivajinagar complained that none of the authorities or the local leaders have stepped up for their help except for the MLA of the constituency Rizwan Arshad. “We request the Karnataka government to take action against the accused and help us get our money back,” a woman protestor said.

Mansoor Khan was called in for questioning on June 4 and June 8 before the police filed an FIR against him. As he is reportedly in Dubai, the police have issued a lookout notice for him.