BENGALURU: Accused of siphoning off crores of rupees from thousands of his investors, the Managing Director of Ponzi scheme company I Monetary Advisory (IMA), Mohammed Mansoor Khan, arrived early on Friday morning at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi from Dubai by Air India flight-AI 916.
Soon after he landed, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which was reportedly tipped off when Mansoor had boarded the flight.
Khan is being interrogated by the central agency over alleged money laundering.
The Bengaluru zonal unit of ED had issued a look-out-circular for Khan after they had booked him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, last month.
“Mansoor Khan was not deported. He looked confident as he stepped out of the aircraft. He has returned to the country on his own. His interrogation may expose many big names,” sources told The New Indian Express.
The Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing a criminal case of cheating and breach of trust against Khan, had earlier stated that his passport had been revoked to restrict his movement.
The Interpol had issued a Blue Corner Notice against him on the request of the SIT after he fled Bengaluru on June 8, leaving thousands of his investors high and dry.
The SIT officials who are in Delhi, were expected to bring Khan back to Bengaluru on Friday and had sent messages early morning to three airports in Bengaluru — the Kempegowda International Airport, HAL and Jakkur aerodrome — regarding his arrival.
Sources added, “No message was relayed after the morning one. Either SIT will bring him to Bengaluru through some other route or there is some delay because they will have to wait till ED finishes interrogation. The SIT needs to obtain his transit warrant from a Delhi court to bring him to the city.”
Early this week, Khan had released a video in which he had stated that he will be returning to India in 24 hours. On June 28, the Bengaluru zonal unit of ED had provisionally attached some immovable properties of IMA in Karnataka worth Rs 197 crore, Rs 98 lakh from 51 bank accounts and Rs 11 crore held in the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) in a leading private bank under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA), 2002.
During preliminary investigations, Mansoor alleged that some politicians, officers and builders had back-stabbed him, which led to the collapse of IMA.
The SIT has arrested Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban and assistant commissioner of Bengaluru North for taking bribes. The SIT had detained Congress MLA Roshan Baig at KIA for questioning.
The MLA has denied the allegations.