Bengaluru: Minority welfare minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan is the latest name doing the rounds in the I Monetary Advisory (IMA) Ponzi scam. Zameer Ahmed had declared in his poll affidavit in 2018 that he had taken Rs 5 crore from IMA towards a sale deed.

Zameer had accepted Rs 5 crore from IMA as an advance amount for selling off his property in Richmond Town, in Bengaluru.

Zameer Ahmed Khan is currently the minority welfare minister in the HD Kumaraswamy Cabinet and had furnished information of his business with the Ponzi company which has come under the scanner, IMA, in his affidavit submitted before contesting Assembly elections in May 2018.

The owner of IMA is absconding and more than 3500 people who had invested in the company have filed complaints of fraud by IMA owner Mohammed Mansoor Khan.

IMA's business ranged from real estate, bullion trading, retail jewellery, gold finance, infrastructure development, book publishing and print media, promising attractive returns to people who wished to invest in the firm.

Previously, Congress MLA from Shivajinagar, Roshan Baig's name surfaced in the scam as IMA owner Mansoor Khan, in a video released by him before he absconded, said that a “Shivajinagar MLA” had taken Rs 400 crore from him.

Though Baig stated on Twitter that he had no association with IMA, unconvinced investors protested in front of Roshan Baig's residence demanding the return of their money.

With news of his connection with IMA, Zameer Ahmed too is likely to face the wrath of the people.

Chamrajapet MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan was a prominent JD(S) leader, who rebelled against the party and joined the Congress in March 2018.

Zameer Ahmed has not commented on the issue of his connection with the company. However, he has urged action against IMA and has said that now the case has been handed over to the CCB, but if the probe is unsatisfactory, it will then be handed over to the CBI.

The Karnataka government has ordered a SIT probe into the IMA scam.