IMA Jewels fraud: many from Belagavi as well

Many people from Belagavi today gathered at the Ajuman hall and later gave a memorandum to the Police Commissioner regarding the money invested in the I Monetary Advisory (IMA) Jewels in Shivajinagar, Bengaluru.

Most of the investors are from the middle-income group and have invested lakhs of rupees in the company that had promised them a higher rate of interest. The investment ranges from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3lakh.

I Monetary Advisory (IMA), a company founded in 2006 by Mohammed Mansoor Khan. Until 2015, few people had heard of it. Khan, a Gulf-returned Bengalurean, tapped the so-called Islamic investment market to the hilt and quickly built a diversified business. 

Khan targeted Muslims who shy away from investing in interest-based businesses. The company’s tagline was catchy: Your partner to (the) path of prosperity. Investors were called “sleeping partners”. 

IMA offered a bouquet of attractive investment schemes with monthly, quarterly and yearly returns. The amount to be invested was Rs 50,000 and its multiples. Withdrawing from the scheme was touted to be hassle-free: get your money back after 45 days.

Seven directors of the city-based IMA Jewels were arrested and are being grilled by the Special Investigation Team to know their alleged role in the multi-crore ponzi scam operated by its owner Mohammed Mansoor Khan, police said on Thursday in Bengaluru.