IMA scam: Authority awaits court nod to distribute Rs 75 crore

BENGALURU: Thousands of investors who were allegedly cheated in the I Monetary Advisory scam may soon get back a part of their investment. The competent authority for IMA scam will approach the special court next week, seeking its nod to distribute among the victims Rs 75 crore raised by auctioning movable and immovable properties of the Ponzi firm.
Already, Rs 19 crore has been distributed among 6,000 investors who had deposited Rs 50,000 or less. This time, the distribution will be made on the basis of the 'most-affected' victims, said Aditya Amlan Biswas, IMA competent authority.
"We will request the special court to allocate distribution on 'established legal principles of equitable distribution' so that most affected victims will have some relief. This time, we will prepare the list of investors who would have faced acute financial distress after investing with IMA," he told TOI.
Biswas is hopeful of distributing more compensation in near future. "Recently, we auctioned some properties and have accumulated Rs 75 crore. Auctioned items include gold, silver and vehicles. Some more movable properties are to be auctioned," Biswas said, adding that "IMA has immovable properties in other places like Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. We are in the process of disposing of them."
Among the assets yet to be auctioned is a Range Rover, which had developed a technical snag and has now been fixed, Biswas said. Earlier, an Audi car used by prime accused Mohammed Mansoor Khan was auctioned. About 69,000 investors were shortchanged in the Rs 1,300-crore scam. The IMA had accepted Rs 2,900 crore investment from nearly one lakh people. Out of it, Rs 1,500 crore was returned to investors in the form of dividends and other forms.
Asked what about the pending compensation of Rs 1,200 crore, Biswas said: "As and when we get the chance to auction movable and immovable properties, we will raise funds and distribute them."
"Besides the properties that have been auctioned, IMA has immovable properties worth Rs 150 crore in different parts of the country, which are attached by ED. Anticipating that the competent authority will confiscate them, the accused succeeded in getting a court stay. Khan argued in the court that only ED has the right to confiscate. We too have moved the court, seeking its nod to confiscate the properties attached by ED," sources from the competent authority's office said.