Karnataka: Former Congress MLA Roshan Baig Arrested in Ponzi Scam Case
PTI
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Bengaluru: Former Congress minister R. Roshan Baig was arrested by the CBI on Sunday in connection with the multi-crore I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) ponzi scam, agency sources said.
Baig, who was disqualified as a Congress MLA after he revolted against the party last year, was summoned by the CBI office on Sunday morning and "based on material evidence" was arrested, they said.
The former Shivaji Nagar MLA was produced before a court which reprimanded him to 14 days judicial custody, the sources added.
The multi-crore ponzi scheme run by Karnataka-based IMA and its groups allegedly duped over a lakh of people to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore by promising higher returns using Islamic ways of investment, the sources said.
The scam came to light in June of last year when the IMA operator, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, fled the country accusing Baig and some government officers of cheating him.
Khan had alleged that Baig had taken about Rs 400 crore from him, a charge rejected outright by the latter.
Baig was not inducted into BJP, unlike 16 other disqualified legislators of Congress and JDS, whose revolt led to the collapse of the H.D. Kumarasamy led coalition government last year. The seven-time MLA did not contest the by-elections held in December last year while 14 others got BJP tickets after joining it.
Khan came to India after much persuasion by the police and surrendered himself. The then coalition government of Congress and JD(S) had formed a special investigation team to probe the matter.
However, the BJP government which came to power later handed over the case to the CBI. The CBI has arraigned an IAS officer, two IPS officers, a KAS officer and a corporator as accused among others in the case after the state government gave permission for prosecuting them.
The IAS officer, who was the former deputy commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district, had allegedly died of suicide in his house a couple of months ago.
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