Ponzi Scam: Roshan Baig was expelled from the Congress for "anti- party" activities (File)
The CBI raided former Karnataka minister Roshan Baig's home in Bengaluru on Monday. This follows his arrest on Sunday in connection with the Rs 4,000-crore IMA ponzi scam that saw thousands of investors lose their money.
The scam was exposed last year after investors stopped receiving returns on money deposited with the Bengaluru-based company. The man behind the IMA Group, Mansoor Khan, fled abroad before returning to be arrested. He had named Roshan Baig as allegedly being involved in the scam.
Roshan Baig was a Congress MLA who represented Bengaluru's Shivajinagar constituency five times. He was disqualified last year during the collapse of the Congress-JDS coalition government. Mr Baig had publicly and strongly criticised the party leadership.
"It is ongoing investigation that was initiated very early. So, in due process, he has been called for the investigation. He has to undergo the investigation to find out the truth. He is cooperating... there is nothing special about it. This is a very old case," Deputy Chief Minister Dr Ashwath Narayan told NDTV, adding, "The public expect justice to prevail. The truth will come out."
Investors have a one-month window starting Wednesday to file claims. Between 75,000 and one lakh claims are expected to be made, with around Rs 1,400 crore the likely claim amount.
Claim applications received after December 24 will not be accepted, Harsh Gupta, the Special Officer and Competent Authority in this case has said.
The applications can be submitted online or at Bangalore One or Karnataka One help centres.
The property of those involved in the scam has been seized but it will take a while before the auction is authorised, meaning that those who have filed claim applications may have to wait for a few months more before seeing their money again.