Ponzi scam: IMA owner Mansoor Khan, directors asked to appear before ED on June 24

Scam

They have been asked to produce financial documents, including bank accounts held by them and their family members.

TNM Staff

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued show-cause notices to the absconding Managing Director of I Monetary Advisory (IMA), Mohammed Mansoor Khan, and seven other directors of the firm. They have been asked to appear before the ED's Bengaluru office on June 24. The seven directors of the firm are Anwar Pasha, Arshad Khan, Dada Peer, Naveed Ahmed, Nazir Hussain, Nizamuddin and Waseem as per India Today.  They have been also asked to produce financial documents including the bank accounts held by them and their family members, details of entities they are associated with and movable and immovable properties, and income tax returns filed by IMA, reported The New Indian Express.  They have been asked to appear under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The seven directors were earlier arrested on June 11 after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) took over the investigation into the scam. IMA had promised investors high returns and taken several hundred crores. More than 38,000 complaints have been received against IMA so far.  Mansoor Khan fled the country on June 8 and purportedly released an audio claiming that Congress MLA (now suspended) R Roshan Baig refused to return to him the Rs 400 crore which he had ‘borrowed’ for the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. Roshan, who is a seven-time MLA from Shivajinagar constituency, is now under pressure from the Congress. He protested his innocence even as other Congress leaders like RV Deshpande told media persons that Roshan had known Mansoor earlier and was seeking a loan from him. The Bengaluru-based company had earlier been collecting money from investors with the promise of returns of over 3% per month.The fraud emerged after hundreds of people gathered outside the investment firm’s offices on June 12, saying that it had not provided returns on their investments for more than two months.

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HC raps Bengaluru police for 'casual approach' to noise inspection at Indiranagar pubs

Tasked with inspecting noise levels at midnight, police officials had taken officers of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) in the evening to check noise levels.

TNM Staff

  The Karnataka High Court pulled up Bengaluru police over their 'casual approach' to inspecting pubs in the Indiranagar area for noise levels. A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice HT Narendra Prasad made the observation after a status report submitted by the police found that police officials had taken officers of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to check noise levels in the evening or early at night even though the complaints of residents suggested noise pollution at or past midnight. The KSPCB in its report stated that it had not found cases of noise pollution. "We are making it very clear that we will never tolerate such mischief with the court. If this casual approach continues, we will have to take the extreme step of summoning the police commissioner," the court observed as per The New Indian Express. The court was hearing a PIL by various residents, welfare groups of Indiranagar on the illegalities in the operation of pubs in Indiranagar. The counsel appearing for the police claimed that the police had conducted checks on noise levels even at midnight but he could not provide documentation for the same. According to Deccan Herald, the court has now directed police officials to conduct surprise visits to bars in Indiranagar and submit an affidavit by a senior police official in a sealed envelope with details of the visit. It also asked the police to furnish details of the meters, equipment being used to check noise levels. The legality of pubs operating on rooftops in Indiranagar with temporary structures will also be inspected by the police.    

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Appeals court says Trump family planning restrictions can take effect

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IMA Jewels scam: SIT raids Bengaluru office, finds gold and diamond shelves empty

Crime

The SIT suspects that Mansoor Khan, who is believed to have fled the country, may have siphoned off the gold and diamonds from the store.

TNM Staff

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the IMA scam on Thursday raided the head office of IMA Jewels located in Bengaluru’s Shivajinagar area. SIT sleuths say that they have seized silver ornaments in the raids. SIT sources say that the jewellery store’s shelves were devoid of ornaments and the silver that was seized needs to be valued to determine the cost. “There were about 15 to 20 employees at the office. They were here because they wanted to get their original certificates, like marks cards, back. We interviewed them and took information about the workings of the office. We found only silver in the vault. The shelves were empty,” the SIT official added. Investigators say that Mohammed Mansoor Khan, who is believed to have fled the country following the expose, is said to have siphoned off the gold and diamonds from the store between June 5 and June 8. “Mansoor Khan disappeared on June 8. He was called in for questioning by the Central Crime Branch on June 5, where he was grilled for 8 hours. We believe he could have been tipped off about a possible arrest and he fled the country with the gold and other ornaments,” the source said. IMA offered members of the Muslim community ‘halal’ investment options. According to the Sharia law, it is considered ‘haram’ (prohibited) to draw interests (riba) on the money. ‘Halal’ options are considered ethical wherein the amount can be invested in the trade of commodities accepted under the Islamic law and a profit is shared with the investors. When IMA shut down on June 10, investors were left with two audio clips purported to be suicide notes recorded by Mansoor Khan. However, on June 13, the SIT learned that he had fled to Dubai with his fourth wife and two children. The SIT has conducted raids on several of his properties since June 10 and on Monday, raided the home of his third wife, Tabassum. They recovered 1.5 kg gold and Rs 2.5 lakh cash along with a laptop from there.    

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Woman cuts daughter's throat over eviction row in Karnataka, child out of danger

Crime

The woman, Anu, allegedly held the knife to her daughter’s throat after she thought that she was being evicted from her home.

TNM Staff

The Chikkamagaluru Police on Wednesday arrested a 30-year-old woman for slitting her five-year-old daughter’s throat in a blackmail bid. According to the police, the woman, Anu, held the knife to her daughter’s throat after she thought that she was being evicted from her home. The NR Pura Police say that five months ago, Anu and her husband Jobi (35) had rented a building in Muttikoppa from Safeer, a gram panchayat leader, in order to run a business. A couple of months later, Safeer received an offer from a private petroleum company to set up a petrol pump. “I am constructing a house and I needed the money so I went to Anu and Jobi and asked them if they can vacate the building. They informed me that they would not leave until the contract runs its course,” Safeer told TNM. Following this, two months ago, Anu and Jobi obtained an injunction order against Safeer. The court order stated that Safeer could not evict Anu and Jobi from the building until September this year. Safeer said he accepted the offer and did not interfere. However, on Wednesday, things escalated when he hired an earth mover to clear the debris which was near the building. “Next to the building, a few meters away, there is a compound wall and on Wednesday night, I was informed that there was debris near the compound wall. So I hired an earth mover to clear it up,” Safeer added. Upon seeing the earth mover, Anu and Jobi allegedly rushed to the spot and demanded that the clearance work be stopped immediately. “I tried to explain to them that the injunction order applied only to the building. Besides, since the property is mine, I was not doing anything illegal in clearing debris from my site. Things just escalated so quickly and Anu began threatening me saying she would kill her children and herself if I did not go away. Jobi then went to the police station to file a complaint against me,” Safeer said. Safeer called the NR Pura police, who arrived at the spot a few minutes later. By then, a huge crowd of over 100 people had gathered at the spot as Anu was holding a knife to her 5-year-old daughter Maria’s throat. “She just grabbed her daughter, who was hiding under the bed and held a knife to her. She tried to grab her 7-year-old son as well but we managed to get him to safety before she got to him,” the NR Pura police told TNM. The police allegedly tried to pacify Anu. However, she slit her daughter’s throat in front of them. Two police constables rushed to rescue the child and Anu stabbed one of them on his palm. The entire incident was caught on camera and the video went viral on Thursday.   “We managed to rescue the girl. There was a deep gash starting from her left ear to the side of her throat and she was bleeding profusely,” the police added. Maria was rushed to the government hospital, where she is undergoing treatment and is currently out of danger. The NR Pura police have registered a case of attempted murder, assault and attempted suicide against Anu. “We produced her before the magistrate and she has been sent to judicial custody,” the police said.    

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Monsoon advances in Karnataka, set to bring rains to Bengaluru this weekend

Monsoon

The monsoon has now extended to the remaining areas of coastal and Malnad region as well as Belagavi district in the northern part of the state.

TNM Staff

The southwest monsoon advanced in coastal, Malnad and northern parts of Karnataka on Thursday and is expected to bring rains across the state including in Bengaluru this weekend. According to meteorologists at the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), the southwest monsoon entered Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu and Mysuru districts on June 14. This has now extended to the remaining areas of coastal and Malnad region in the state including Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru districts, and has also entered Belagavi district in the northern part of the state.   "The monsoon has advanced to remaining parts of coastal and Malnad region as well as Belagavi district. It is likely to be active for the next three days. There is a low pressure system that has developed north of Bay of Bengal which means there is a kind of pull from there which will bring cloudy weather across the state," explained Sunil Gavaskar, a meteorologist at the KSNDMC.   The monsoon is also expected to bring heavy showers to Bengaluru this weekend. "We have had one or two showers on Wednesday and the same is expected on Thursday. However, by June 21 or 22, we are expecting heavy rain in Bengaluru," said Sunil.  According to KSNDMC, rains in other parts of the state over the last week were either due to a western disturbance or due to Cyclone Vayu. The monsoon, which usually covers Karnataka by June 10 is around ten days late this year.  The Indian Meteorological Department, meanwhile, stated that the monsoon rains are set to extend to parts of Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Tamil Nadu. The department also reported that the overall deficit of monsoon rains so far this year is 41%. This is due to a delay in the arrival of the monsoon and the onset of Cyclone Vayu. The monsoon this year follows a summer with a lack of pre-monsoon rainfall. 156 out of 175 taluks in Karnataka were declared drought hit by the state government. 

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How Congress's weak national image makes it unlikely to leave Karnataka’s coalition govt

Politics

The Congress high command is believed to have advised Siddaramaiah to avoid stirring up controversies regarding the stability of the coalition government in Karnataka.

Theja Ram

For the last two days, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been cooped up with Congress party leaders in New Delhi with a single-minded goal – to convince them that the coalition with the JD(S) is hurting the party more than it could benefit it. Siddaramaiah has a herculean task cut out for him as the high command is averse to the idea of withdrawing support from the coalition government in Karnataka, All India Congress Committee sources say. The AICC on Wednesday had dissolved the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee while retaining the KPCC President and working President. On the heels of such a historic decision, party insiders say, is another parallel outcome that could destroy Siddaramaiah’s reputation. “The AICC wants to hold him accountable for the failures in Karnataka. It is very likely that he will be removed as chief of the coalition coordination committee. Siddaramaiah has had to put up with the embarrassment of seeing his arch rival – Kumaraswamy, become the CM. If he is removed as the committee chief, then it would be seen as the high command taking away his powers. He does not want that,” the AICC functionary said. Congress sources say that the high command in New Delhi wants to maintain stability in Karnataka until the KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao stitches the party’s state unit up from scratch. The party’s state president has a tough task cut out for him and setting up a new KPCC unit and getting it up and running is likely to take at least another year. “When such a huge task is ahead of the party, the national leaders do not want to withdraw support from the coalition. Siddaramaiah was given a free rein to make decisions during the 2018 Assembly and the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. Besides a few leaders in Siddaramaiah’s faction, none of the MLAs want to dissolve the government and go for re-election. The party is not prepared for it,” the source said. The high command is believed to have advised Siddaramaiah to avoid stirring up controversies regarding the stability of the coalition government until a new KPCC is steady enough to function efficiently. Besides, the party leaders say that turmoil in Karnataka would be disastrous for the party in the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra scheduled to be held in November. “Siddaramaiah wants to become the Chief Minister. This is a personal issue for him. He is not looking at what the party needs at the moment. If support is withdrawn, our MLAs are apprehensive about going to BJP because they know their careers will be sidelined. The BJP wants to go for re-election and we are in no position to fight one now,” the source added. On Wednesday, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy met former Kalaburgi MP and veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge soon after learning about Siddaramaiah’s agenda to withdraw support from the coalition. Sources close to Kharge say that he reassured the Chief Minister that such an agenda would not be approved by the high command. “Siddaramaiah will never openly rebel against the high command. His supporters will definitely stir up dissent and call for the dissolution of the government but even they know that jumping ship to BJP is not an option, as Yeddyurappa will sideline them once they resign from their MLA posts. The BJP is also not amenable to give them tickets to contest elections in case of snap polls,” the source added.  

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