Bengaluru: Walking down the line, following Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and many others, Founder owner of I Monetary Advisory (IMA) Group Mohammed Mansoor Khan the prime accused has cheated more than 23,000 investors to a tune of Rs 1,500 crore and reportedly fled the country on June 8 a day before a complaint has been filed against him, police sources said, TOI reports.
Within the next 24 hours after the first complaint against Khan was filed an audio clip of Mr Khan claiming on the verge of committing suicide has been circulating on WhatsApp.
This video clip sent panic among thousands of investors who have rushed to Commercial Street police station to file their complaints against Khan the prime accused who long gone by then according to the police.
One of the Investor’s aged around 54, who had invested around 8 Lakhs in IMA group had reportedly died of cardiac arrest on Thursday as soon as the scam news reached him.
Abdul Pasha a resident of Old Guddalahalli on Mysuru Road is survived by three daughters and a son.
His family said he complained of chest pain while discussing the IMA scam amid preparations for his daughter’s wedding in July and died in the same evening at the hospital.
A source in the state secretariat familiar with the case said Khan had cleared the immigration around 6.40pm and his flight to Dubai took off at 8.45pm.”
“His associates recalled how Khan was tense since central agencies were communicating with the state, asking why no action had been taken against him and his firm. Earlier in the evening (Saturday), he drove to the airport in his favourite Jaguar, ” the source added.
Khan’s Jaguar (KA-05-MW-41) and Range Rover (PY-05-C-7777) have been seized from the Shivajinagar residence of Nizamuddin Azeemuddin while one of the seven IMA directors was arrested on Wednesday.
A friend and business partner of Khan, Mohammed Khalid Ahmed on June 9 filed a police complaint accusing him of cheating him of Rs 4.8 crore. The news of the complaint spread like wildfire sending investors into a panic.
According to sources, the investors had begun suspecting Khan after he stopped paying interest to his investors from March this year.
“He flew alone to Dubai on an Airbus,” police sources said. “The passenger list showed he had booked a business-class seat for himself. We suspect he sent his family members to the same place on an earlier flight.”
Other sources said Khan frequently flew to Dubai and other Gulf countries on business trips but his visits increased this year.
“He had flown to the UAE five times in 2018, and nine this year,” sources said adding “The increased number of visits in 2019 indicates he was preparing to flee for good.”
Khan is accused of cheating investors to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore according to 23,000 complaints filed against him and the IMA officials till Thursday.
Officials from the SIT, formed to investigate the scam, took charge of the IMA office in Shivajinagar on Thursday and sealed all lockers and safety chests.