Roshan Baig was expelled from Congress for “anti-party” activities (Archive)
New Delhi:
Roshan Baig, a former minister of Congress in Karnataka, was arrested on Sunday by the IWC in connection with the IMA 4,000 rupee ponzi scam. He was presented in court and sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
Roshan Baig was summoned to the CBI office and, based on “material evidence,” was arrested, the agency said.
The scam linked to a Ponzi scheme run by Bengaluru-based IMA Group came to light in June 2019, when payments to investors in the company’s schemes came to an abrupt halt. The founder, Mansoor Khan, then fled abroad, leaving thousands of investors high and dry. He was arrested a month later.
While abroad, Mansoor Khan had posted an audio message accusing Roshan Baig of taking 400 million rupees from him and not returning it.
Roshan Baig had refuted the accusation, saying that the statement was “frivolous, unfounded and mischievous”.
In 2019, he was expelled from Congress for criticizing the party’s state leadership for its dismal performance in the general election.
The MLA had seen its name dragged into the case as a sequel to its adversaries in Congress, which was in power when the case was brought up.
Roshan Baig was one of the MLA whose revolt led to the collapse of the JDS Congressional government. However, it was not included in the BJP like others.
In June this year, in response to violence in Karnataka, Roshan Baig had argued that Congress sponsored “extremely radical” organizations for more than a decade.
The Karnataka government, meanwhile, has started a plan for IMA investors to get their money back.
“We are inviting claim requests from IMA depositors. Requests can be submitted for one month starting November 25. Any claim request received after December 24 will not be accepted. Requests can be submitted online, or people can send their applications in Bangalore One or help centers Karnataka One, “said Harsh Gupta, special officer and competent authority in the case of IMA.
With PTI inputs
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