TOP 10 SCAMS IN INDIA

                         SCAMS IN INDIA                    

An average Indian citizen is hard working and diligent, but it is the people in charge of the system (The Babu’s) or with whom the power lays, that act as a cancer spreading the venom, slowing down progress and what all not. But, somewhere down the line, we ourselves are responsible for allowing and being taken for a ride by these people, aren’t we?

However, it is during a multi-thousand crore scam, that a tax-payer actually realizes the heartburn of being cheated from his valued contribution of funds towards the development and well-being of the nation. But, that’s what a scam, be it big or small, means – the act of swindling by some fraudulent scheme or action.  

• 2G SCAM:

 None can beat this one, the infamous 2G scam, a fiddle of 1.76-lakh crore in the telecom industry of India. According to the CAG report, the former Telecom minister, A Raja evaded norms at every level as he distributed the dubious 2G license awards in 2008 at a throw-away price which were pegged at 2001 prices. The cases are still on in the Special CBI Court and seem to be unearthing more swindles.

•    Bofors Scam:

 The Bofors scandal is known as the hallmark of Indian corruption. The Bofors scam was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s; when the then PM Rajiv Gandhi and several others including a powerful NRI family named the Hindujas, were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India’s 155 mm field howitzer.

The Swedish State Radio had broadcast a startling report about an undercover operation carried out by Bofors, Sweden’s biggest arms manufacturer, whereby $16 million were allegedly paid to members of PM Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress.

• Commonwealth Games Scam

 Another feather in the cap of Indian scandal list is Commonwealth Games loot. Yes, literally a loot! Even before the long awaited sporting bonanza could see the day of light, the grand event was soaked in the allegations of corruption. It is estimated that out of Rs. 70000 crore spent on the Games, only half the said amount was spent on Indian sportspersons.

The Central Vigilance Commission, involved in probing the alleged corruption in various Commonwealth Games-related projects, has found discrepancies in tenders – like payment to non-existent parties, will-ful delays in execution of contracts, over-inflated price and bungling in purchase of equipment through tendering – and misappropriation of funds.

• Citibank Fraud:

 Citibank fraud was a major blow to Indian financial service industry. The real sulprit behind this scene is Mr. Shivraj Puri, who was working as the relationships manger with Gurgaon branch of Citibank. He lured investors into a fake scheme with the help of forged circulars from Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) with a hope to cash on very high interest rates. He came into light when the bank started receiving complaints from various clients about a scheme which was non-existent for the bank.

• FODDER SCAM:

 If you haven’t heard of Bihar’s fodder scam of 1996, you might still be able to recognize it by the name of “Chara Ghotala ,” as it is popularly known in the vernacular language.

In this corruption scandal worth Rs.900 crore, an unholy nexus was traced involved in fabrication of “vast herds of fictitious livestock” for which fodder, medicine and animal husbandry equipment was supposedly procured.

• DLF IPL SCAM:

 Well, I am running out of time and space over here. The list of scandals in India is just not ending and becoming grave by every decade. Most of us are aware about the recent scam in IPL and embezzlement with respect to bidding for various franchisees. The scandal already claimed the portfolios of two big-wigs in the form of Shashi Tharoor and former IPL chief Lalit Modi.

• STOCK MARKET SCAM:

 Harshad Mehta & Ketan Parekh Stock Market Scam came as ashocker for many. There is no way that the investor community could forget the unfortunate 4000 crore Harshad Mehta scam and over 1000 crore Ketan Parekh scam which eroded the shareholders wealth in form of big market.

• TELGI SCAM:

 As they say, every scam must have something unique in it to make money out of it in an unscrupulous manner- and Telgi scam had all the suspense and drama that the scandal needed to thrive and be busted.

Abdul Karim Telgi had mastered the art of forgery in printing duplicate stamp papers and sold them to banks and other institutions. The tentacles of the fake stamp and stamp paper case had penetrated 12 states and was estimated at a whooping Rs. 20000 crore plus. The Telgi clearly had a lot of support from government departments that were responsible for the production and sale of high security stamps.

• SATYAM SCAM:

 The scam at Satyam Computer Services is something that will shatter the peace and tranquillity of Indian investors and shareholder community beyond repair. Satyam is the biggest fraud in the corporate history to the tune of Rs. 14000 crore.

The company’s disgraced former chairman Ramalinga Raju kept everyone in the dark for a decade by fudging the books of accounts for several years and inflating revenues and profit figures of Satyam. Finally, the company was taken over by the Tech Mahindra which has done wonderfully well to revive the brand Satyam.