Karnataka Lokayukta Seeks Governor's Nod To Prosecute Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan In ₹25 Crore Disproportionate Assets Case

Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Minister and close associate of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah -- B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan has landed in trouble with the Lokayukta seeking Governor's consent to prosecute him in a disproportionate assets case.

The Lokayukta have submitted documents running into thousands of pages, where they have said that Zameer was found in possession of assets worth in excess of ₹ 25 crore than his real sources of income.

Once the Lokayukta obtains permission from the Governor, the final charge sheet will be filed in the court.

The incident dates back to 2018, when the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) raided the house of Zameer, who was the Wakf Minister at that time. The ED was investigating into I Monetary Advisory (IMA), a multi-crore ponzi scheme, which was run posing as Islamic Banking by Mohammed Mansoor Khan. The ED found multiple transactions by Zameer with Mansoor Khan and also found his assets disproportionate to known sources of income.

The ED directed the then Karnataka Anti Corruption Bureau to investigate the assets of Zameer. The ACB was later shut down and the case was transferred to the Lokayukta. During investigation, the Lokayukta noted that Zameer, when became MLA for the first time, had one apartment in Sadashivanagar, one site in Mysuru and a few lakh rupees in his account. After becoming legislator and minister, he had constructed a house worth over ₹ 20 crore in Shivajinagar. Besides, he had spent crores of rupees during his daughter's wedding and also got the details of his frequent foreign tours.

Though he claimed to had taken hand loans from former actress Radhika Kumaraswamy, former ministers Dinesh Gundurao, N Cheluvarayaswamy, legislator H C Balakrishna, former Rajya Sabha member Kupendra Reddy and former MLC Mallikarjun to the tune of crores of rupees, there are no records for returning the money. Similarly, there are no records for Zameer lending hand loans to his friends.

The Lokayukta had interrogated Zameer's business partners, family members and friends and finally concluded about the disproportionate assets. After preparing the report, they have sought the Governor's nod to file a charge sheet, since he is a sitting Congress MLA.