The mysterious death of a Bengaluru bureaucrat accused in a ₹4,000 crore ponzi scheme

• Senior IAS officer, BM Vijay Shankar, who was accused and arrested for bribery in the ₹4,000 crore I-Monetary Advisory scam, passed away on June 23 evening.
  
• He reportedly committed suicide and was found dead in his house in Jayanagar.
  
• While the Tilak Nagar Police has filed a case under the Unnatural Death Registry (UDR), the exact cause of death is yet to be figured.
  
• Shankar, 58, was posted as Additional Mission Director in Sakala after he was out on bail.
  

Senior IAS officer, BM Vijay Shankar, who was accused and arrested for bribery in the ₹4,000 crore I-Monetary Advisory scam, passed away on June 23 evening.

He was found dead in his house in Jayanagar and the Tilak Nagar Police has filed a case under the Unnatural Death Registry (UDR). However, the exact cause of death is not certain yet. He attended a review meeting in VV Tower before leaving in the evening — and appeared cheerful, Times of India reported citing sources.

"Vijay Shankar was found hanging in a room on the first floor of his residence at Jayanagar in the city's southern suburb by his wife late evening. The officer was under pressure after he learnt that the state government has permitted the CBI, probing the scam, to interrogate and prosecute him," an official told IANS.

Typically, in a ponzi scheme, the perpetrator raises money from new investors to pay off the old ones. There is no real wealth created and the chain keeps growing until it goes bust.

Shankar was appointed as an IAS officer in 2014 and was posted as the Karnataka cadre officer later. He was suspended as the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district after he agreed to have taken ₹1.5 crore bribe from Mohammed Mansoor Khan in the IMA scam.

He was suspended from his position after he was arrested in July 2019 and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating the scam. Shankar, 58, was posted as Additional Mission Director in Sakala after he was out on bail.

The government transferred the case from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police to CBI in August. Five directors of I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) were arrested and jailed last year.

"Though the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) alerted the state government and the city police about the illegal activities of the IMA group, including raising illegal deposits from investors through cash or gold jewellery, assuring them hefty interest and returns on maturity, no action was taken against the company for allegedly indulging in the criminal act," a CBI official told IANS earlier.

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