Ponzi scheme: Whistleblower Alam Pasha seeks arrest of IAS officer, cop and IMA chief

News Network
October 27, 2021

Bengaluru, Oct 27: Industrialist-cum-whistleblower Alam Pasha has lodged a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau seeking arrest of three persons, including IAS officer Harsh Gupta and Commercial Street Inspector of Police for alleged dereliction of duties with an ulterior aim to acquit IMA chief Mohammed Mansoor Khan, who is an accused in IMA scam.

Speaking to UNI, Pasha said Gupta, who was appointed by Karnataka government as Competent Authority (CA) on behalf of Revenue Department to retrieve the investors monies of more than Rs 4,000 crore and take action as per law against Khan and other accused in the case.

Giving background of the scam in his complaint, Pasha said Khan had floated a ponzi scheme offering investors dream returns on investments made in his firm called I Monetary Advisory Group.

Around October 2018, as many as 75,000 investors began complaining of the firm reneging on payments worth Rs 4,000 crore and the firm also had come under the RBI scanner, he said.

The firm was accused of siphoning off nearly Rs 4,000 crore of funds for the personal benefit of the owners of the firm, he said.

In June 2019, Khan absconded as police initiated a probe in the case. Before absconding, he had released an audio message for the police accusing then Congress MLA Roshan Baig for the fall of the firm, Pasha alleged.

Khan alleged Baig borrowed Rs 400 crore from the firm and failed to return it. He had also accused other politicians and officials of bleeding IMA resources, the complainant said.

After the scam became a major controversy, the then Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy ordered the creation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the IMA scam, he said.

Khan was arrested by the ED at Delhi airport in July 2019. In October 2020, he was granted bail by Karnataka High Court, Pasha said.

Gupta, the complainant said, has failed to take action as per law to book IMA culprits to meet the purpose of his appointment to retrieve the monies of the investors from them.
He said the CA has failed in his duty to direct the Inspector of Police to file FIRs against the IMA culprits so that the victims of the scam get back their monies, which they had invested in nine of the companies owned by Khan.

"Unless the police file FIRs against the IMA culprits, no court in the country shall be able to deliver the verdict in favour of the victims. Filing FIRs is the first step towards providing relief to the victims," he said.

The CA also has failed in his duties to seek the intervention of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to investigate serious frauds committed by IMA Group of companies so that the investigation is carried out without depending on police and their investigation, Pasha said.

The IMA group of companies fall under the purview of the Companies Act 2013 as they are not financial establishments, Pasha said.

Also, the CA has been appointed under section 5 of the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishment Act 2004, who enjoys powers to initiate an investigation into the financial establishments, but IMA Group of companies are full-blown firms, Pasha said.

"So, knowing that he has to depend on the investigation of the police, the CA is well within his rights to seek the intervention of the Ministry of Corporate Companies to conduct investigations under SFIO rules. If he is sincere and genuine, he would have asked for the SFIO probe," he said.

"It is very clear that the CA and the police officer are working in favour of the accused, namely Khan, rather than giving relief to the IMA victims, who are waiting for retrieval of their money. In these circumstances, I had approached the ACB and lodged a complaint seeking arrest of the three accused," Pasha said.

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News Network
March 19,2024

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Mangaluru: The Mangalore International Airport (MIA) will connect to a new domestic destination with the introduction of a non-stop flight to Tiruchirappalli International Airport in Tamil Nadu. 

The non-stop service, once-a-week, will operate on Wednesday (from TIA) and Thursday (from MIA), starting April 3. Air India Express will operate the flight.

The flight is expected to help those taking up a pilgrimage to Vailankani shrine.

Sources from the AIE said that the airline carrier decided to fly non-stop between the two southern Indian cities as a flight to Jeddah, which will start from April 3, arrives from Tiruchirappalli International Airport. 

“It is a ferry or positional flight from TIA to MIA. Instead of flying empty, the management has decided to run it as a commercial flight. This will help both passengers and the airline. The airline will deploy Boeing 737-800 aircraft with a 186-seater all-economy configuration on this route. 

The same flight, after landing in MIA, will further fly to Jeddah,” a source said. 

The flight IX 1498 will depart every Thursday at 5am from MIA to TIA. The TIA-MIA flight IX 1499 departs at 12.50pm. It is a one-hour nonstop flight. The same flights will also operate nonstop between Jeddah and MIA. 

The non-stop flight IX 499 will depart MIA at 2.50pm and reach King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah at 6.25pm. The IX498, will depart from Jeddah at 7.25pm and reach MIA early at 3.40am.

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News Network
March 15,2024

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Bengaluru, Mar 15: Former Karnataka chief minister and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act on Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor at his residence in Bengaluru last month.

Yediyurappa, 81, was booked after a woman lodged a complaint saying that she visited his residence on February 2 seeking justice in a rape case against her daughter and sought that a special investigation team (SIT) be formed to look into the case.

According to the first information report (FIR), Yediyurappa allegedly took the minor to a room, closed the door and sexually assaulted her. The woman further alleged in the FIR that when she confronted Yediyurappa, he said that he was checking if the girl was raped or not. Yediyurappa later allegedly apologised and asked the woman not to reveal the matter to anyone.

The Sadashivanagar police in Bengaluru have registered a case under Section 8 (commit sexual assault) of the Pocso Act and Section 354 (a) (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Reacting to the allegations, the former CM said that around one-and-a-half months ago, they (the victim and her mother) had come to his house seeking help and he had taken them inside. 

“After listening to her, I called the city police commissioner B Dayananda over phone seeking to address her problem. Later, they spoke against me and I then suspected that there is some health problem with her. I sent them to city police commissioner’s office. I even gave her some money as they were in distress. I came to know that an FIR has been registered and will look into it. But this is what I get for helping someone,” he added.

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News Network
March 16,2024

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Ottawa, Mar 16: An Indian-origin couple and their teenage daughter were killed in a "suspicious" fire which tore through their home last week in Canada's Ontario province, police said on Friday.

A fire engulfed a home at the Big Sky Way and Van Kirk Drive area of Brampton on March 7, a press release by the Peel Police said.

After the blaze was put out, investigators located what was believed to be human remains within the gutted house, but the number of people killed couldn't be ascertained at the time.

The charred remains were on Friday identified as those of three family members: 51-year-old Rajiv Warikoo; his wife, 47-year-old Shilpa Kotha; and their 16-year-old daughter, Mahek Warikoo.

Police said that they resided at the address before the fire.

Peel police Constable Taryn Young on Friday said the fire had been deemed suspicious, the CTV news channel reported.

"At this time, we are investigating this with our homicide bureau, and we are deeming this as suspicious as the Ontario Fire Marshal has deemed that this fire was not accidental," the report quoted Young as saying.

"There's not much left to it," Young said when asked about the possible cause of the fire.

"Looking into something like that as a fire marshal, I'm sure it's very tough when there is not much left to look at. But we are exhausting all avenues," she said.

The deceased family's neighbour, Kenneth Yousaf, said that the family had lived on the street for about 15 years, and he never noticed any problems with them.

Yousaf said he was alerted to the fire last week by a family member, who heard a big "bang." "When we came out, the house was on fire. So sad. Within a few hours, everything was down to the ground," the report quoted Yousaf as saying.

In a press release, police said they are continuing to investigate the deaths of the three family members and urged anyone with information to come forward.

"The circumstances surrounding the house fire remains the focus of an active investigation, and anyone with information or video footage (dashcam or otherwise) is urged to contact Homicide detectives," police said.

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