IMA scam: Mohammed Mansoor Khan arrested in Delhi, being questioned by ED

New Delhi, Jul 19: The founder of I Monetary Advisory (IMA), Mohammed Mansoor Khan, was arrested in the early hours on Friday. Khan had landed at the Delhi Airport in the wee hours and was taken under the joint custody of Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).

According to the SIT officials, Khan had been absconding for over a month and was located by a team of the investigation team in Dubai. They later persuaded him to come back to India and submit himself before the law.

Commenting on the development, Ravikanthe Gowda, chief of the Special Investigation Team probing the matter said, "An SIT team located IMA founder-owner Mohd Mansoor Khan in Dubai, through its sources, and persuaded him to come back to India and submit himself before the law. Accordingly, he has travelled from Dubai to New Delhi. SIT officers are in Delhi to secure and arrest him."

Earlier on June 16, Khan had uploaded a video in which he said he would return to India within 24 hours.

"God willing, I will return to India in the next 24 hours. I have faith in the Indian judiciary. I am preparing for my return and I have made arrangements for my flight tickets," Khan said in the video uploaded on the IMA Group’s YouTube account.

In the video, Khan said he ails from a coronary disease and needs surgery.

“There are three blockages which have to be operated upon soon. I cannot afford to bear the expenses for the procedures here. Even if I do (undergo an operation), I cannot return to India for the next two months,” said Khan.

After leaving thousands of investors in distress in one of the biggest financial scams in Bengaluru, Mansoor Khan had eluded arrest since June 7.

Khan is even said to have had links with political leaders in both the Congress and the JD(S).