IMA Halal scam: K’taka govt approves prosecution of 2 IPS officers
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government gave its approval to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for prosecution of two senior IPS officers and three other police personnel in the multi-million I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) ponzi scheme in which fraudsters had cheated over Rs 4,000 crore.
The IMA ponzi fraudsters had cheated more than lakh people who were promised higher returns using Islamic (Halal) ways of investment.
According to the state government orders on Monday, these five police personnel had delayed and suppressed information after an inquiry, giving undue advantage to the IMA ponzi scheme operator Mohammmed Mansoor Khan and others associated with the scam that came to light in June last year.
The government in its September 9 order accorded sanction to the CBI to prosecute Bengaluru Additional Commissioner Hemant Nimbalkar and Superintendent of Police rank officer Ajay Hilori. Deputy Superintendent of police E. B. Sridhar, inspector M. Ramesh and sub-inspector P. Gowri Shankar are the others whose prosecution was cleared in a separate order on September 11.
According to the CBI, which took over the case in August last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had flagged its concern and conveyed to the state Director General of Police about the wrongdoings of the ponzi scheme operators.
Accordingly, the investigation was initially handed over to the Economic Offence Wing of the state CID and as the then head of it Nimbalkar had supervised the probe conducted by Sridhar.
The government order further read that Nimbalkar endorsed the findings of the inquiry conducted by Sridhar and forwarded the report to the DG and IGP “in which he asserted that the IMA and its group entities are not financial establishments under the definition of Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors (KPID) Act” and recommended closure of the probe.
The CBI has also charged him with allegedly resisting conducting further inquiry into the matter as directed by the DGP.
“Hemant Nimbalkar, IPS, thus showed undue interest in order to favour Mohammed Mansoor Khan and IMA that he wanted to protect the activities of Mohammed Mansoor Khan and save him from any action by government under the KPID Act,” the order said.
In the case of Hilori, the order said as the then DCP of Bengaluru East division he had demanded and accepted illegal gratification on various occasions from Mohammed Mansoor Khan through Nizamuddin, Director and Operational Manager, IMA for favouring IMA by delaying the report to RBI and for not taking action in connivance with other public servants on various complaints against the company.
Hilori had allegedly accepted furniture and interior items for his house from IMA when the matter was pending with him by misusing his official position. The others too had allegedly connived with these officers, the order said.
