The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the I Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam has revealed that the firm's founder, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, had paid Rs 1,750 crore as bribe to top politicians and government officials to sustain his fraudulent company.
The investigating officers stated that Mansoor Khan kept a record of the bribe in his computer, detailing the transactions he had made to the bureaucrats and other people. The IMA scam had defrauded over 40,000 investors to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore in the name of halal investments.
According to reports, Khan had allegedly paid between Rs 1 crore and 20 crore to police officers, including several IPS officers. The police sources said that Khan had maintained a detailed record of all the payments he had made to the local leaders and top government officials from both state and central government.
The records revealed that Khan had paid a politician Rs 400 crore along with protection money of Rs 5 crore. Khan had also funded the politician's son's wedding. The politician had promised to repay the amount to Khan but returned only a small part.
According to the Times of India, when Khan started pressing the politician over the remaining amount, he, with the help of two moulavis (Islamic scholars), started spreading disparaging messages about Khan and IMA. Fearing defamation among his community, Khan was forced to keep his mouth shut.
The SIT had earlier arrested the Assistant Commissioner from Bangalore North (Revenue) LC Nagaraj for allegedly taking Rs 3.5 crore bribe from Khan. Deputy Commissioner BM Vijayshankar was arrested for allegedly taking Rs 1.5 crore from Khan through his associates.
Khan, who fled to Dubai after the fraud came to light, was brought back to India by the SIT sleuths and was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after he arrived at the Delhi airport. The ED got the custody first as they had booked him under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Khan has been under custody for the past 10 days.
On Thursday (August 1), after Khan was given judicial custody till August 14 by the ED, the SIT obtained a body warrant to take him into custody. The SIT sleuths said that Khan should be interrogated to understand the authenticity of his alleged payments. They have also approached ED for Khan's interrogation details.
