Former Karnataka Minister Roshan Baig Gets Bail in Multi-crore IMA Scam Case

A special CBI court here on Saturday granted bail to former Karnataka Minister Roshan Baig in the multi-crore I Monetary Advisory (IMA) investment scam. CBI arrested Baig on November 22 and had conducted raids at his residence the very next day.

The disqualified Congress MLA from Shivajinagar in the city, after the arrest, was produced before the court, which remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days. Baig has been asked by the court to cooperate with the investigation and report before CBI officials on the second and fourth Monday of every month, official sources said.

He also has been asked to surrender his passport, inform the court if he changes address and not to threaten witnesses, they said. Baig’s advocate, while citing his health condition, informed the court that his client has cooperated with the investigation and all the accused in the case have been granted bail, barring the MD and CEO of the IMA Group of companies.

The multi-crore ponzi scheme run by Karnataka-based IMA and its group entities allegedly duped over a lakh of people to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore promising higher returns. The scam came to light in June last year when the IMA operator Mohammed Mansoor Khan fled the country accusing Baig and some government officers of cheating him.

Khan had alleged that Baig had taken about Rs 400 crore from him, which the latter had rejected outright. Khan came to India after much persuasion by the police and surrendered.

The then Congress and JD(S) coalition government had formed a special investigation team to probe the matter. However, the BJP government after coming to power handed over the case to the CBI.

The CBI had named an IAS officer, two IPS officers, a KAS officer, and a corporator among the accused in the case. The state government gave permission to the Central agency to prosecute them..