Bengaluru: Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has announced that all depositors who lost their money in the multi-crore IMA (I Monetary Advisory) scam will receive their due compensation before the start of Ramzan.

A meeting was held yesterday 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.

Over one lakh depositors had invested Rs. 3,213.58 crore in IMA with the hope of doubling their money, but they were defrauded.

Of the total 69,069 depositors, Rs. 1,400 crore had been returned as dividends from time to time. After the scam was exposed, Rs. 19.12 crore from the company’s accounts was distributed to 6,858 victims at Rs. 50,000 per person in April 2022, following a Special Court’s orders.

On Nov. 8, 2023, Rs. 66.66 crore was credited to the accounts of 53,142 victims. On May 23, 2024, Rs. 1.28 crore was credited to 626 victims’ accounts, according to an official release. On Nov. 7, 2024, Rs. 36.14 lakh was credited to 276 victims’ accounts. In total, Rs. 87.43 crore has been credited to the accounts of 60,902 victims so far.

Government has seized over 10 properties linked to IMA, with movable assets valued at Rs. 106.92 crore and immovable assets estimated at Rs. 401.92 crore.

Additionally, Rs. 2.88 crore was seized from various company bank accounts, along with Rs. 11.72 crore in cash and Rs. 11.06 crore in investment certificates, bringing the total seized amount to Rs. 534.5 crore. Krishna Byre Gowda stated that, following a directive from Justice M. Nagaprasanna’s Bench, these assets will be auctioned and proceeds will be distributed to investors.

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. Minister Krishna Byre Gowda assured the victims that steps would be taken to distribute compensation based on the proportion of their investments at least ten days before Ramzan.

When the IMA scam surfaced, the Government allowed victims to submit online applications to claim compensation. Active bank accounts linked to financial transactions with IMA were considered valid 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.