ED raids former Karnataka minister Baig’s premises in Rs 4,000 crore IMA scam case

Baig was among the 16 Congress and JD(S) MLAs who switched allegiance to BJP in 2019. However, he was not given membership by the saffron brigade and soon after coming to power, BJP handed over the IMA scam to the CBI in August 2019.

Baig, a seven-time MLA, was denied a BJP ticket for the bypolls held for the Shivajinagar constituency in December 2019 on account of his links to the IMA scam.

Recently, the Karnataka government provisionally attached the immovable and movable properties of Baig under the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishment Act.

According to ED officials, various premises of Baig, including the one at Shivajinagar, and his associates are being raided under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Properties of Congress MLA from Chamrajpet B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan and a travel company linked to him are also being searched.

Khan is stated to have had a purported property transaction with the then MD of IMA Group Mansoor Khan. This transaction was declared by him in his election affidavit.

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Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids former #Karnataka minister R Roshan Baig’s house in #Bengaluru. He is an accused in the IMA scam. Recently, Karnataka HC ordered seizure of his immovable assets. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/xalqiA4lt3

— Darshan Devaiah B P (@DarshanDevaiahB) August 5, 2021

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The ED raids come after CBI filed an FIR and a chargesheet into the case in April in which it named Baig, Mansoor Khan, IMA Group and Baig’s company Daanish Publications among others.

The alleged scam pertains to the over Rs 4,000 crore collected by the group from over a lakh gullible investors in the name of providing them attractive returns on investments following Islamic ways.

The CBI alleged that the money was diverted to Baig, a minister in the erstwhile Congress government, led by Siddaramaiah, so that IMA Group could continue its illegal activities.

The agency had registered four cases in connection with the scam and filed multiple chargesheets against 33 accused, including Khan, company directors, several revenue and police officials.

Zameer Ahmed Khan was questioned by ED earlier and other agencies regarding his transaction with Mansoor Khan but he has not been charged by any agency so far.