IMA Scam: Relief For Victims Before Ramzan, Says Krishna Byregowda

Krishna Byregowda said following the directive of Justice Nagaprasanna’s bench, these assets will soon be auctioned, and the proceeds will be distributed to investors.

Bengaluru: All depositors who lost money due to the multi-crore IMA (I Monetary Advisory) scam will receive their due compensation before the Ramzan festival, said Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda.

A meeting was held on Monday at the Vikas Soudha to discuss the total amount involved in the IMA scam, the value of movable and immovable assets seized so far, the amount refunded to victims over the past seven years, and the timeline and method for compensating the remaining victims. The meeting was attended by Minister Zameer Ahmed, MLA Rizwan Arshad, Chief Minister’s Political Secretary Naseer Ahmed, and several victims of the IMA scam.

Byregowda assured the victims that steps would be taken to distribute compensation based on the proportion of their investments at least ten days before Ramzan. Over one lakh depositors invested Rs 3,213.58 crore in the IMA scam. Of them, Rs 1,400 crore had been returned to 69,069 depositors in the form of a dividend from time to time. After the scam came to light, Rs 19.12 crore from the company’s accounts was distributed to 6,858 victims at Rs 50,000 per person in April 2022, as per the orders of a special court. On November 8, 2023, Rs 66.66 crore was credited to 53,142 victims’ accounts. On May 23, 2024, Rs 1.28 crore was credited to 626 victims’ accounts. On November 7, 2024, ₹36.14 lakh was credited to 276 victims’ accounts, the minister said.

"In total, ₹87.43 crore has been credited to the accounts of 60,902 victims so far," he added. The government has already seized more than ten properties linked to IMA, with movable assets valued at ₹106.92 crore and immovable assets estimated at ₹401.92 crore. Additionally, ₹2.88 crore was seized from various company bank accounts, along with ₹11.72 crore in cash and ₹11.06 crore in investment certificates, bringing the total seized amount to ₹534.5 crore. The Minister said that following the directive of Justice Nagaprasanna’s bench, these assets will soon be auctioned, and the proceeds will be distributed to investors.

Assured Relief for Eligible Victims

When the IMA scam surfaced, the government provided victims the opportunity to submit online applications to claim compensation. Active bank accounts linked to financial transactions with IMA were considered official proof, while those with inactive accounts were required to submit deposit receipts, share certificates, or similar documents.

The submitted information was cross-verified with IMA’s records and Aadhaar data to identify eligible beneficiaries. In cases where the primary depositor had passed away, the compensation was arranged to be transferred to their nominated beneficiaries.