The Anti-Corruption Bureau in Karnataka on Tuesday, July 5, raided five locations of Congress MLA BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, following a report of the Enforcement Directorate in a disproportionate assets case. According to ACB officials, the raids were carried out at his residence near the Cantonment Railway station, a flat in Silver Oak Apartment, a guest house at Sadashivanagar, GK Associates office at Banashankari and National Travels office in Kalasipalya in the city.
"The ACB teams are verifying the documents and the investigation is on," the ACB official said. Multiple teams of the ACB arrived at five locations of Khan, a four-time MLA, who had served as the Food and Civil Supplies Minister in the HD Kumaraswamy government for over a year from June 2018. On Tuesday, several of Zameer’s supporters had gathered outside his residence to protest the raids.
Last year in August, the Enforcement Directorate had raided Khan and another former minister R Roshan Baig's residence, allegedly in connection with the IMA ponzi scheme worth Rs 4,000 crore. Bengaluru headquartered I Monetary Advisory (IMA), an investment company founded by one Mohammed Mansoor Khan, who is the main accused in this Ponzi scam. His company, under the umbrella of the IMA Group, had diversified into other businesses including jewellery, real estate, bullion trading, groceries, pharmacy, hospitals and publishing, and allegedly duped over 45,000 people across Karnataka over a whopping Rs 4,000 crore.
Both Zameer and Baig's names were linked after Mansoor Khan in his video messages posted prior to being arrested by the ED officials in New Delhi in July 2019, had specifically named them, alleging that they were in connivance with him to commit a scam of such magnitude.
Reacting to the raid on his premises and entities, four time legislator from Chamarajpet, Khan told reporters that the ED's raid was pertaining to a luxurious bungalow he had built just a couple of months ago in the Cantonment area in Bengaluru.
"Some of my opponents may have complained to them (ED) and they may have raided on my properties besides carrying out similar search operation on my brothers and few close relatives as well," he said trying to clarify that the raid on his properties was not in connection with the multi-crore IMA Ponzi scam.