IMA scam accused Mansoor Khan tried fleeing Dubai twice

Highlights

• The SIT probing the scam has received information that Mansoor Khan tried to flee to Saudi and Oman on two different occasions.
• A senior officer with the SIT said that the team will not be flying to Dubai for investigation.

BENGALURU: Mohammed Mansoor Khan, prime accused in the Rs 1,500-crore ‘I Monetary Advisory (IMA)’ ponzi scheme, had made two attempts to leave Dubai where he is said to be holed up since fleeing Bengaluru on June 8.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the scam has received information that Mansoor Khan tried to flee to Saudi and Oman on two different occasions. “His plans to move to Saudi came to a halt when travel agents in Dubai denied him help. Khan’s efforts to reach Oman through road hit a dead end after his passport got suspended,” senior SIT officials said, adding that it may not take very long for Dubai police to “arrest Khan and send him back to Bengaluru”.

Further, sources confirmed that Khan is accompanied by one of his wives. “On June 8, Khan flew to Dubai alone. His wife had traveled to the same destination a few days earlier,” sources said.

SIT not flying immediately to Dubai for Ponzi probe

A senior officer with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) said that the team will not be flying to Dubai for investigation. On Saturday, a section of media claimed that the SIT team was getting ready to fly to Dubai to trace Khan. “As of now, we have no such plans. When have little role in tracing and following him in Dubai as Interpol and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials are already at it,” a senior officer said, adding that the team, however, is ready to travel if their assistance is needed by the Interpol or IB.

Khan is facing charges of cheating more than 42,000 investors to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore. He fled from Bengaluru a day after his business partner Mohammed Khalid Ahmed filed a criminal complaint — Khalid accused that Khan had cheated him of Rs 4.8 crore. Following Khalid’s complaint, other investors too filed cheating complaints against Khan. Later, a blue corner notice was issued against Khan and his passport was suspended.

Rs 1 crore- seizure at pharma unit

Continuing their raids on properties related to IMA, sleuths from the special investigation team (SIT) on Saturday seized medicines and other material worth Rs 1 crore from a pharmaceutical unit in Pulakeshinagar.

The unit, Front Line Pharma, located on MM Road, was raided by a team of 12 sleuths, cops said. “Also, we raided a shopping unit near Coles Park and seized items worth Rs 15 lakh,” a press note from SIT read.