BENGALURU: Victims of the IMA ponzi scam have been approaching the Vanitha Sahayavani helpline located on the premises of the Bengaluru city police headquarters, seeking assistance to buy food. Thousands of middle-income families have lost their life savings in the IMA scam unearthed a year ago.“Several victims have come to us, some asking money to buy food. But we are helpless since the case is under investigation. The victims have taken up daily-wage work such as construction painting, driving, etc., to survive,” said Iqbal Ahmed, a senior counsellor at the helpline.
One of the victims, Fathima (name changed), has been working as a domestic help at a house on Tannery Road. She lost Rs 2.3 lakh - her life savings. “I cannot even hold a wedding for my daughter. I was forced to ask my son, a Class 9 student, to take some time off from school to look for part-time work. We need to sustain ourselves too. My 60-year-old husband eloped with a 20-year-old girl and I have to put food on our plates,” she said.
But the misery doesn’t end there. The helpline saw two cases where men in their late 30s turned to paint thinner to deal with the stress of financial burden as they cannot afford medication. “The lower middle-class families who are victims here have lost anywhere between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh. The scam has ruined them,” Ahmed added. One of the men has three daughters and ended becoming a substance abuser to deal with the depression and the strain of supporting his family, Ahmed said.
While counselling is being conducted at the helpline, cases are not being registered as the victims approach the centre seeking money for livelihood. Senior IAS officer Harsh Gupta, who is the Competent Authority for IMA Group of companies, informed the Karnataka High Court that an app has been developed for filing claims. The helpline will soon start informing victims to file for claims online once the app is launched.