1. A series of companies running ponzi schemes, targeting mostly middle class Muslim investors – with hard earned money from small businesses or jobs in the middle east – with promises of huge returns on investments have crashed in Bangalore in the last few years. 2. Firms like Ambidant Marketing, the Ajmera Group, Hira Gold, Injaz International have all come under the scanner of tax, banking and police authorities amid complaints of fraud. 3. As many as 40,000 investors have lost funds to the tune of Rs 1000 crore through investments in the range of one or two lakh rupees to Rs 10 to 25 lakhs and more, preliminary investigations by a Special Investigation Team of the Bengaluru police has revealed. 4. Among other politicians Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy was also seen in the company of the IMA founder Mansoor Khan at an iftar party in the past.
OPINION : 30/06/2019 : 1842.
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*I Monetary Advisory (IMA) Group Founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan
Sub :
1. A series of companies running ponzi schemes, targeting mostly middle class Muslim investors – with hard earned money from small businesses or jobs in the middle east – with promises of huge returns on investments have crashed in Bangalore in the last few years.
2. Firms like Ambidant Marketing, the Ajmera Group, Hira Gold, Injaz International have all come under the scanner of tax, banking and police authorities amid complaints of fraud.
3. As many as 40,000 investors have lost funds to the tune of Rs 1000 crore through investments in the range of one or two lakh rupees to Rs 10 to 25 lakhs and more, preliminary investigations by a Special Investigation Team of the Bengaluru police has revealed.
4. Among other politicians Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy was also seen in the company of the IMA founder Mansoor Khan at an iftar party in the past.
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Ref : IMA Jewels scam: Drawn to ‘halal’ firm and its founder ‘who spoke of god’, 40,000 investors left in lurch - 30/06/2019 : IE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Established in 2006 IMA hit the big time around 2015 and managed to thrive despite warnings against its fraudulent schemes from the RBI, income tax investigations, and a public declaration by the government of Karnataka in November 2018 of seizure of the firm's assets.
An elderly investor in the ponzi scheme company I Monetary Advisory – which has left over 40,000 investors stranded after its founder went underground on June 8 – blames politicians and religious leaders from the Muslim community for the scam.
“People trusted the company because its founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan was seen in the company of political leaders at various events. In messages religious leaders said the company’s investment schemes were in line with our beliefs. People flocked to invest in IMA because of these factors,” said Mohammed Akram, 70, an investor who has now approached the police to at least recover his principal amount of Rs 12 lakh from the sunken firm.
A series of companies running ponzi schemes, targeting mostly middle class Muslim investors – with hard earned money from small businesses or jobs in the middle east – with promises of huge returns on investments have crashed in Bangalore in the last few years.
Firms like Ambidant Marketing, the Ajmera Group, Hira Gold, Injaz International have all come under the scanner of tax, banking and police authorities amid complaints of fraud.
The Karnataka government and police have acted against these firms under the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishment Act, 2004, after complaints of defaults on payments and reports against them from agencies like the RBI.
Of all the firms claiming to offer huge returns on investments – in the range of 36 to 60 percent per annum – I Monetary Advisory, which claimed to be involved in gold bullion trading has managed to thrive the most by positioning itself as a halal firm where investors are partners and not depositors like in the other firms.
Established in 2006 IMA hit the big time around 2015 and managed to thrive despite warnings against its fraudulent schemes from the RBI, income tax investigations, and a public declaration by the government of Karnataka in November 2018 of seizure of the firm’s assets.
“Some people gave a fatwa saying that investments in IMA is halal. People have followed like sheep and invested innocently. Some have done it to fund the marriage of their daughters, some for education of children, some just for savings. After demonetisation people who had money started investing in such firms,” says Azhar Ahmed, a social worker from the Shivajinagar area in central Bengaluru where IMA is headquartered.
“They were a good company but suddenly they changed. They were paying returns on time and then suddenly they stopped early this year. They stopped responding to our calls, ” Taha Baxi, an investor in the firm stated.
“Please give our money back. Even if you don’t want to give benefits it’s okay. There are many married women who have invested their complete family income for the sake of their daughters marriages,” says Parveen Sheikh on IMA’s Facebook page.
One of the other factors that lead a large number of people from the Muslim community to invest (nearly 80 percent of investors in IMA are Muslims) was also the glib talk of the firm’s founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan, 46 – who appeared modern and religious.
“Every body knew there is some thing fishy but still people trusted him because he used Allah Allah, Quran ,namaz so that people trust him,” says Subiya Khan an investor in the firm.
“I trusted you so much because you always spoke about god and I felt you are a true Muslim and will never cheat middle class people like us. Because of you I could not get school admissions for my two kids. I lost everything now,” Yashas Kumar a Shivajinagar resident said.
As many as 40,000 investors have lost funds to the tune of Rs 1000 crore through investments in the range of one or two lakh rupees to Rs 10 to 25 lakhs and more, preliminary investigations by a Special Investigation Team of the Bengaluru police has revealed.
IMA’s business began unravelling sometime in October 2018, according to an admission made by the absconding Mohammed Mansoor Khan himself in a social media video on June 23.
“The downfall started in October itself but we did not let the investors know. We suffered losses in the range of Rs 2000 to 3500 crore and then there was a delay of payment in returns for one month. People started sending rowdies to the firm to threaten us and things went haywire and I had to save myself,” Khan says in the message explaining his disappearance.
According to Khan – IMA’s schemes benefitted 21,000 families before it unravelled.
As the losses of the firm – with investments also in hospitals, real estate, retail jewelry, retail pharmacies – began mounting, and the defaults on payment of returns on investments to investors began growing, the revenue department of the Karnataka government issued a public notice on November 16, 2018 ordering seizure of all properties of IMA and its directors.
The notice said IMA was “illegally collecting money from the public and diverting the said funds to its directors’ self-interest” and had defaulted in paying depositors as a result.
“As such, the government, exercising its power under section 5 of the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishment Act, 2004, has appointed assistant commissioner, Bengaluru, north-sub division as the competent authority to forfeit movable and immovable properties of IMA and its associates, promoters, partners, directors,” it said.
Mohammed Mansoor Khan and IMA managed to survive the action initiated by the revenue department by promising to pay investors after obtaining a Rs 600 crore loan to tide over the crisis.
Khan is reported to have been taken to the Karnataka revenue minister R V Deshpande by the Congress MLA from the Shivajinagar constituency Roshan Baig – who was closely associated with the IMA’s activities including philanthropy in the constituency. The IMA founder sought a no objection certificate from the revenue department to obtain a loan to revive IMA but the NOC was not given, the minister Deshpande has admitted.
“I was waiting for a bail out. One NBFC was ready and was waiting for an NOC from the government. One IAS officer delayed the NOC because I did not pay an amount of Rs 10 crore in time,” Khan claimed in his June 23 video on social media.
According to the revenue minister Deshpande no action was initiated against IMA after the November 2018 notice because there was no police report on the matter. There was no police report because IMA showed investors as being shareholders of the firm and as a consequence the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors (KPID) in Financial Establishments Act, 2004 did not apply in the case, the revenue department has claimed.
One of the major factors for IMA staying afloat for thriving in recent years despite setbacks has also been the proximity of Mohammed Mansoor Khan to key politicians in Karnataka.
The Congress MLA from Shivajinagar Roshan Baig – who was the minister for infrastructure, urban development, information and Haj in the Congress government (2013-2018) – has been closely associated with IMA and its founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan for many years.
At the instance of Baig the IMA group in 2015 adopted a government school in Shivajinagar – the alma mater of Baig – and renovated it at a reported cost of Rs 16 crore. The renovated building was inaugurated in June 2017 by the then Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, Roshan Baig and then education minister Tanveer Sait.
Another politician who has had links with IMA’s Mansoor Khan is the Congress leader Zameer Ahmed Khan – minister for infrastructure and Haj in the current Congress-JDS government. Zameer is reported to have met Mansoor Khan on May 28 a few days before the IMA founder disappeared. An election affidavit filed by the minister also shows that he sold a property to Mansoor Khan in 2017-18 for Rs 9.38 crore.
Incidentally, Roshan Baig and Zameer Ahmed Khan are involved in a political war to emerge as the main leader of the Muslim community in Karnataka. The whole IMA scam in fact exploded on the scene on June 10 while Baig was in New Delhi meeting the BJP’s minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi amid rumors of him joining the BJP. Baig was appointed chairman of the state Haj committee following the meeting.
In an audio message in which he claimed to have released after he fled the country on June 8 IMA’s Mansoor Khan however alleged that he was not able to pay back investors because politicians like Roshan Baig borrowed nearly Rs 400 crore and failed to return the money.
Baig has denied the allegations and has said that his association with IMA was restricted to developing the V K Obaidullah government school in his constituency. “After my recent political fallouts, some of my adversaries have made a full-fledged attempt at assassinating my character by orchestrating a series of events using underhand methods. The entire hit job has been carried out using a baseless, un-investigated audio recording,” Baig said.
Baig, who was suspended by the Congress on June 18 for a verbal tirade against party leaders in May this year, obtained an injunction from a civil court in Bangalore on June 21 against media reporting on the IMA issue that leads to assassination of his character.
Among other politicians Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy was also seen in the company of the IMA founder Mansoor Khan at an iftar party in the past.
The disappearance of Khan occurred barely 48 hours after he was quizzed by top officials of the Bangalore crime branch unit of the police. Since his disappearance on June 8 Khan has sent an audio message addressed to the former Bengaluru police commissioner T Suneel Kumar and a video message addressed to the new police commissioner Alok Kumar.
In his messages to the top police officials Mansoor Khan has blamed extortion by unnamed politicians for the downfall of his business and has promised to return to India and come clean on names if his safety is assured by the police.
“Many people were successful in bringing me down – I have details of all those who harassed and extorted and I will place it all before the judiciary. If I name the people now they will finish my family. When we give black money there is no record or receipt but funds have to be returned. Those who have caused loss must be punished,” Khan said in his recent video.
“My own people have betrayed me in the management and the politicians who were close to me were after my life,” he said.
One publicly documented instance where Mansoor Khan was allegedly subjected to extortion over the functioning of IMA occurred in 2017 when the IMA founder lodged a police complaint against the CEO of a private television channel Janasri TV alleging extortion.
In his April 14, 2017 complaint to the Commercial Street police Khan alleged that he paid Lakshmi Prasad Vajpayee the CEO of the channel Rs 10 crore into seven bank accounts and gold worth Rs 30 lakh to stop airing negative stories about the operations of the IMA group. The complaint also alleged that the channel executive later began demanding Rs 25 crore and a Toyota Fortuner to prevent broadcast of stories about the IMA Group.
The channel CEO was arrested and was later released on bail by the Karnataka high court.
With the operations of the IMA Group unravelling in recent weeks the firm’s founder has now virtually washed his hands off the responsibility of returning the funds of investors.
“There are a list of names and if you can do it take it from them I will give evidence to all authorities. It is up to you to take the funds,” he has stated to investors through his recent video message addressed to the Bangalore police commissioner. Over the past week an SIT of the Bangalore police has recovered jewelry worth Rs 11.72 crore from IMA Jewel stores.
The SIT has also arrested seven directors of IMA and has obtained an Interpol blue corner notice against Mansoor Khan who is suspected to be in a country in the middle east. The Directorate of Enforcement of the union finance ministry is also now probing the IMA scam.
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NOTE : TAKE CARE YOURSELF : THERE IS NO EASY MONEY
1. Banking on faith: How thousands of people lost their life savings in IMA Jewels scam;
The RBI had sounded a warning about IMA in 2016 for collecting unauthorized deposits from the public.
2. Karnataka ponzi scheme: SIT raids IMA Jewels' branches in Bengaluru, seizes jewellery worth Rs 13 crore;
The police seized 41 kg jewellery worth Rs 13 crore, a pistol, 50 bullets and property documents in the raids at IMA branches in Bengaluru's Shivajinagar.
3. Karnataka to forfeit assets of I Monetary Advisory-IMA that runs money deposit schemes
4. Anatomy of a scam: How IMA Jewels took investors for a Rs 2000-crore ride;
The method used by Khan is not new. It has its roots in the practice of ‘Halal Investments’, which targets investors from the Muslim community who are taught that ‘riba’ or usury is haraam in Islam.
5. IMA Jewels Scam: Suicide Audio, Missing Owner, 3,700 Complaints and a Congress Mention Rock Bengaluru;
In the audio clip, the managing director of I Monetary Advisory jewels purportedly claimed that he was threatened by Congress MLA Roshan Baig, who allegedly borrowed Rs 400 crore from him.
6. ED summons Karnataka minister Zameer Ahmed Khan in IMA Jewels scam
ED officials waited for hours outside the residence of the minister to hand over the notice.
7. B. Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan
Minister for Food & Civil Supplies
In office
6 June 2018 – incumbent
Political party Indian National Congress
B. Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan is a member of the Legislative Assembly, Cabinet Minister Govt Of Karnataka & former General Secretary of the Karnataka Pradesh Janata Dal (Secular). Khan was the former Minister for the Haj and Wakf Board for government of Karnataka and three consistent times MLA From Chamrajpet Constituency
In 2016, Khan was one of 7 JD(S) MLAs suspended for cross voting for candidates of different parties in the 2016 Rajya Sabha election.
On 25 March 2018, Zameer Ahmed Khan along with 6 other MLA's of the JD(S) party officially joined Indian National Congress
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OPINION :
What to do about scams?
For many, solicitations via junk mail, spam email and robocalls are just incredibly annoying. But for some, they’re more than just a nuisance, they’re a trap.
To best protect yourself from being targeted, you need to be careful and use resources to help avoid scams. There are some services and apps intended to assist in screening calls and preventing identify theft. And some telephone companies allow you to opt in to such services. And more consumer education on the dangers of scams would help.
It is also important to resist clicking and responding to suspicious material in any way. Consumers who quickly identify a solicitation as a risk and dispose of it without wasting time are less vulnerable.
Given that the perception of benefits and risks were the most important factors in intention to comply, consumers should only focus on the risk and avoid getting sucked in by the potential benefits.
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LAST WORDS : BEWARE OF FRAUDS
Common Types of Scam Calls in India and How to Deal With Them : Here is the list of five common types of scam calls made in India for your awareness : NEWS18.
The sad part is most victims are people who are new to the age of Internet and smartphones, like the elderly or people with limited means. Sometimes, the amount is a few thousands, which might be meagre for the bank to notice but could mean a lot for an individual.
There is a golden saying when it comes to attending phone calls in the age of WhatsApp—“If someone calls you, it is mostly because the caller needs you more than you do.”
With spammers and scammers becoming smarter, the customer or victim database is categorised to call the easiest of the lot, mostly the elderly.
Hence, we list down five of the most common types of scam calls made in India for your awareness.
1) Your Credit/ Debit Card or account will soon expire: A call from an unknown landline number, claiming it to be the bank manager or bank customer relation officer, will almost threaten you to share your card details or account details. The caller will give reasons like new bank order or the credit/debit card will soon expire or you have not maintained the minimum account balance, etc.
2) I am Calling From Airtel/ Vodafone The caller, claiming to be from Airtel or Vodafone, greets you by your name and then asks whether your number is prepaid or postpaid. After verifying your details like address, DOB, etc, the caller will try to help you get a better mobile plan or some offer and ultimately, asking for bank details.
3) Missed Calls From Unknown Number: Never call back after noticing a missed call from an unknown number. Also, avoid calling back international numbers (any number that doesn’t start with +91).
4) BHIM/ Paytm upgrade Soon after the demonetisation drive took place, the likes of Paytm and the launch of BHIM gave another opportunity for scammers to encash on. These calls could to be made to the elderly to “assist” them on getting the so-called BHIM account. There could be calls claiming to be from Paytm or other mobile wallet executives to assist in mobile banking and wallets as well. Ultimately, the aim is to gather confidential banking information.
5) Call from the Income Tax department: The Income Tax Department calling a person who doesn’t belong to a tax bracket or an elderly citizen in India is almost next to impossible. While the call may be entertaining if you are aware that it’s probably a scam call, simple do not reveal any details to the so-called officer. Remember, the Bollywood movie Special 26? If CBI raids can be faked, IT officers can sound convincing as well.
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JAY HIND
JAY BHARATHAM
VANDE MATARAM
BHARAT MATA KI JAY
LISTEN TO PM MODI JI, YOU WILL NEVER FALL PREY TO ASURIC / EVIL ELEMENTS NETS --
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