The Scandals that marred India's image
By Aadil Masood, SiliconIndia
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Monday, 25 October 2010, 15:12 IST
5,360 crore ($1.1 billion) cash pile on its balance sheet. The real amount was just a measly $78 million. On January 9, 2009, Chairman Ramalinga Raju surrendered to the police and confessed for the
7,100 crore fraud case.
The case has been handed over to CBI and investigations are still going on. Only time will tell whether justice prevails when it comes to the big guns. However, the implications of Satyam case were evident as the auditing part became stricter. Therefore, independent directors started facing the music which ultimately resulted in many public companies seeing large number of independent directors quitting the board.
3. The Harshad Mehta scam: In April 1992, the Indian stock market crashed, and Harshad Mehta, the person who was all along considered as the architect of the Bull Run was blamed for the crash. It transpired that he had manipulated the Indian banking systems to siphon off the funds from the banking system, and used the liquidity to build large positions in a select group of stocks. Harshad Mehta-the Big Bull' triggered a rise in the Bombay Stock Exchange in the year 1992 by trading in shares at a premium across many segments. Harshad and his associates triggered a securities scam diverting funds to the tune of Rs4000 crore (Rs 40 billion) from the banks to stockbrokers between April 1991 to May 1992.
He was later charged with 72 criminal offences. A Special Court also sentenced Sudhir Mehta, Harshad Mehta's brother, and six others, including four bank officials, to rigorous imprisonment (RI) ranging from 1 year to 10 years on the charge of duping State Bank of India to the tune of Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) in connection with the securities scam that rocked the financial markets in 1992.
4.The
950 Crores Fodder Scam: Fodder Scam is a scam related to Animal Husbandry Department of Government of Bihar in which irregularities of nearly Rs 950 crores (US $ 210 million) were detected. The scam was unearthed in 1996 during the regime of chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, but it goes back to 1980s and is believed to have started during tenure of Jagannath Mishra Lalu had ordered probe into these massive irregularities in accounts by constituting a committee. However motives of these people were questioned by a Public Interest Litigation and Supreme Court of India handed over the case to CBI. Many people who were in this probe committee themselves became accused. Charges were filed against Yadav too and later on Mishra was also framed.
In India when it comes to politicians, they seem to have impunity from the law of land. Nothing concrete was done to punish the guilty and rest is history.
5. The great Capital Market fraud of 1990s: "Every single drop of my blood is for the depositors." However that was not to be the case as C.R Bhansali plundered and looted the trust and money of people which resulted in a loss of over Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion).C R Bhansali first launched the finance company CRB Capital Markets, followed by CRB Mutual Fund and CRB Share Custodial Services. He ruled like financial wizard 1992 to 1996 collecting money from the public through fixed deposits, bonds and debentures. The money was transferred to companies that never existed.
CRB Capital Markets raised a whopping
176 crore in three years. In 1994, CRB Mutual Funds raised
230 crore and
180 crore came via fixed deposits. Bhansali also succeeded in raising about Rs 900 crore from the markets.
Fraud is often explained in terms of the fraud triangle which describes that fraud is most likely to occur when there is an overlap of an incentive or pressure to commit fraud, the opportunity to commit fraud, and a rationalization therefore. A risk-management strategy and well-drafted economic-crime prevention policies provide a vital platform to prevent and detect fraud.