BENGALURU: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, may hand over the investigation into the multi-crore I Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The move is being considered to unearth the full extent of the scam and expose the influential people, including politicians and officers, behind it, sources told The New Sunday Express.
“The IMA scam is a fit case to be investigated by the CBI because it has the infrastructure and manpower to probe economic offences of this nature and magnitude. By handing over the probe to CBI, Yediyurappa wants to send across a strong message — of BJP’s zero tolerance towards corruption because many influential and powerful people are said to be behind the racket,” the source, who did not want to be identified, said.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is currently probing the IMA scam, has booked criminal cases against IMA managing director Mohammed Mansoor Khan for cheating and breach of trust, and is sieving through the 40,000-odd complaints that have been filed against the firm.
It has questioned former Congress ministers R Roshan Baig and Zameer Ahmed Khan. The team had also arrested Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner B M Vijayshankar and Assistant Commissioner L C Nagaraj on corruption charges. Mansoor Khan, who is presently in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bengaluru zonal unit, has reportedly mentioned names of some politicians including former ministers, bureaucrats and businessmen, to whom he allegedly had to pay ‘protection money’ to keep his business afloat.
Whatever he has told the ED officials needs to be corroborated with evidence. Some of the investors are from outside Karnataka and some are from the United Arab Emirates. The agency has already booked a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against IMA and its entities.
“Mansoor’s interrogation is being supervised at the highest level in the ED. The CBI will investigate the entire scam right from the start,” the officer added.