CBI searches premises of I-T officials in IMA ponzi scam at Bengaluru
New Delhi, Dec 30: The CBI has carried out searches at eight locations, including the premises of two Income Tax officers based in Bengaluru, in connection with I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) ponzi scam, officials said Monday.
The officers are then Deputy Commissioner, Income Tax (Investigation), Saurabh Nayak, and ACIT (Assessment) D Kumar, they said.
It is suspected that the two officers allegedly favoured IMA chief Mansoor Khan and turned a Nelson's eye to his questionable transactions, they said.
Five places were searched in Bengaluru, and one each in Karwar, Salem and Hosur, they said.
The search also covered the premises of three private persons Asish Jain, Kiran Pamidi and Kaizer Basha, they said.
It is alleged that Nayak and Kumar conducted searches at the offices of IMA and assessed its accounts in 2017, they said.
But the officers allegedly did not take action on irregularities in the deduction of TDS on interest payment by the company and ignored huge cash payment entries in the account books, they said.
The CBI has found that the accounts of IMA which were frozen after Income Tax searches in 2017 were defrozen, they said.
The agency suspects huge bribes were paid to the I-T officers by Khan for the alleged omission, they said.
CBI probe has shown that IMA group entities headed by Mansoor Khan had raised illegal and unauthorised deposits in an alleged in dishonest and fraudulent manner from innocent investors to the tune of over Rs 4,000 crore, the sources said.
As on date over Rs 3,000 crore are outstanding in the form of principal amount and interest in respect of 76,000 investors, they said.
Further investigation is continuing to unearth larger conspiracy, money trail, end beneficiaries and diversion of funds, they said.
The CBI has already filed two charge sheets against 22 accused, including directors, chartered accountants, middlemen and the company and its sister concerns
The CBI had booked Mohammed Mansoor Khan, managing director of the company, and others pursuant to the notifications issued by the Karnataka government and the government of India, the officials said.
The case came to light when Khan fled to Dubai, leaving behind a video message, saying that he was committing suicide because of "corruption in the state and central governments".
Khan was arrested on July 19 on his arrival in New Delhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and is currently in judicial custody.
He had allegedly promised returns ranging from 2.5 to 3 per cent per month to the investors, who are mainly from the Muslim community.
The Karnataka government has constituted a special investigation team (SIT) of the police to probe the case before handing it over to the CBI.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
