IMA scam: Bengaluru corporator’s husband held for extorting Rs 2 cr from Mansoor Khan

The special investigation team (SIT) probing the multi-crore IMA ponzi scheme in Bengaluru on Tuesday arrested Ishtiaq Ahmed aka Pailwan, a history sheeter and the husband of Shivajinagar ward corporator Farida. Police say that Pailwan had extorted Rs 2 crore from IMA founder and Managing Director Mohammed Mansoor Khan.

“Khan has mentioned in a book the details of how much he has paid to several people. Based on that, Pailwan was picked up for questioning. We arrested him only after we gathered clinching evidence against him that he had received hafta from Khan,” a SIT source told The New Indian Express.

Another officer added, “It is established during the investigation that Pailwan had taken Rs 2 crore as hafta (protection money) from IMA founder Khan. He has a criminal history since 1993 and is involved in at least 48 criminal cases registered across the city.”

Deccan Herald reported that he was also arrested in 2018 for extorting restaurants in and around Shivajinagar and his name had also come up when the Ambidant case came up. Ambidant  was the first high profile ‘halal’ ponzi scheme that made news with the arrest of tainted mining baron and former minister Janardhana Reddy.

According to Islam, earning from interest is considered "haram", so they don't invest in fixed deposits or other investment instruments which gives interest. Instead these schemes will ask people to invest their money as a form of partnership business and offer profits to the extent of up to 12% interest per month. The scamsters would return the first instalment as promised and lure customers to invest even more and then stop paying.

In connection with the IMA case, the SIT has already arrested former Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner Vijay Shankar (IAS), Assistant Commissioner of the Revenue Department LC Nagaraj, BDA Executive Engineer Kumar, city corporator Syed Mujahid, one religious preacher and village accountant Manjunath among others.