Former Congress minister in Karnataka Roshan Baig was arrested by the CBI on Sunday in connection with the Rs 4,000-crore IMA ponzi scam. He was later produced in a court and sent to a 14-day judicial custody.
Baig was summoned to the CBI office and based on “material evidence”, he was arrested, the agency said.
The scam linked to a ponzi scheme run by the Bengaluru-headquartered IMA Group came to light in June 2019, when payments to investors in the company’s schemes abruptly stopped. The founder, Mansoor Khan, later fled abroad, leaving thousands of investors in the lurch. He was arrested a month later.
While abroad, Khan had released an audio message accusing Baig of taking Rs 400 crore from him and not returning it. Baig had refuted the allegation, saying the statement was “frivolous, baseless and mischievous”.
In 2019, Baig was expelled from the Congress for criticising the state party leadership over its dismal performance in the general election. He was also among the MLAs whose revolt led to the collapse of the JDS-Congress government. He was, however, not inducted into the BJP like others.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS