Bengaluru, Jul 13: The special investigation team probing the alleged Ponzi scam run by I Monetary Advisory (IMA) recovered Rs 2.5 crore cash from IAS officer and former Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner BM Vijay Shankar, who was arrested last week.
According to a press release issued by the SIT, the recovered money includes the bribe amount Shankar took from IMA founder-owner Mohammed Mansoor Khan. “The remaining Rs 1 crore was also taken in the form of bribe. Shankar had given the entire Rs 2.5 crore to a city-based builder, saying he’d purchase an apartment and a piece of land,” the SIT press note said.
“The case of bribery by the accused — former DC Vijay Shankar and former AC LC Nagaraj — will be handed over to the Anti-Corruption Bureau for further investigation,” the release added.
Later in the day, SIT produced Shankar, Nagaraj, nominated corporator Mujahid and village accountant Manjunath before a local court, which remanded them in 14-day judicial custody at Central Prison. Following the court orders, the four accused were taken to the prison in Parappana Agrahara.
When SIT sleuths produced the quartet inside the packed court hall, Shankar hesitated to stand in the accused box. However, SIT sleuths forced him inside the box, where he stood with the three others. He broke down when the judge announced the decision to hand him and others to judicial custody. Shankar’s advocates tried to console him but in vain, sources said.
Investigations revealed Mansoor Khan had paid Rs 1.5 crore as advance to a company to jointly bid for constructing a dozen skywalks in the city. They had already constructed three skywalks. “The advance was made in the form of a demand draft to the company. Now, the company has returned the same DD and we have confiscated it,” the release read.
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