The Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing the I Monetary Advisory (IMA) Ponzi Scam on Monday arrested an executive engineer of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) in connection with the case. The BDA executive engineer was held for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 4 crore from IMA founder-owner Mohammed Mansoor Khan in exchange for getting Mansoor Khan a loan of Rs 200 crore.
According to The Hindu, the SIT sleuths picked up 52-year-old PD Kumar Nayak from his home in Jayanagar IV Block on Monday afternoon. After questioning Nayak, the police arrested him and booked him under the Karnataka Protection of Interests of Depositors in Financial Establishments (KPID) Act, 2004.
The SIT chief Ravikanthe Gowda, in a press statement, said that Kumar Nayak’s name appeared in an audio clip recorded by Mansoor Khan before he fled the country.
“In the audio clip, Khan had said: ‘PD Kumar has taken Rs 5 crore from me’. We have seized many documents that establish that Kumar took Rs 4 crore from Khan,” SIT chief investigating officer Ravikanthe Gowda said.
The SIT also conducted a thorough search of Nayak’s residence and seized valuable documents in connection with the case.
“Mansoor Khan was looking for a Rs 600 crore bailout. He was harnessing his contacts for a loan. To overcome a financial crisis, he was desperately looking for a loan of a few hundred crores of rupees,” Ravikanthe Gowda said.
SIT sources say that Nayak allegedly confessed to accepting the bribe, during the interrogation. Mansoor Khan had allegedly approached Nayak due to his contacts with bureaucrats in the Revenue Department. “Mansoor Khan wanted Nayak’s connections and hence he paid him a bribe of Rs 4 crore as Nayak promised to get him the loan of Rs 200 crore,” an SIT official said.
According to the Times of India, the SIT team that picked up Nayak on Monday was led by S Girish, who took charge in March 2017 as SP in the Anti-Corruption Bureau. The team raided Nayak for allegedly amassing assets beyond his known sources of income.
The SIT has also registered a case of disproportionate assets against Nayak after they found that he owned two houses in Bengaluru and Davanagere apart from commercial complexes in JP Nagar in Bengaluru and Harapanahalli in Davanagere.
On Sunday, the SIT sleuths arrested Syed Mujahid, a BBMP corporator from Frazer Town, in connection with the ponzi scam and seized several documents from his residence. The SIT found that Mujahid had stashed away Rs 1.2 crore through a shell company and had 101 unknown bank accounts.
The SIT was on the lookout for Syed Mujahid since June 10, when the scam broke out. SIT sleuths say that Mujahid was a close associate of Mansoor Khan.
“Mansoor Khan was in touch with Mujahid even after fleeing the country. Mujahid knew Mansoor Khan was leaving the country. In fact, they met at the airport. Mujahid boarded a flight to Sri Lanka and Mansoor Khan was leaving to bring back the investors’ money. Mujahid claims that Mansoor Khan doled out Rs 400 crore to various politicians and bureaucrats over the years. We are investigating it,” the SIT official told TNM.