BANGALORE – The series of scams in India has degraded the integrity and dignity that the country has carried at the International front. The theoretical and bogus rules framed in the law books have not been enough to control this ever growing phenomenon of corruption here. However anti-corruption social activists-Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal has instilled some hope in the hearts of millions in their fight against corruption. India’s records of past scams will tear you apart and will diminish the hope of enlightenment created by these activists.
Here is the list of ten biggest scams that rocked India:
1. 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.
2. Commonwealth Games Scam (CWG)
India was to proudly boast of having hosted the prestigious 2010 Commonwealth Games, but no one knew what lay ahead. The grand event even before it started downhearted many as it was already entwined with allegations of corruption.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report indicted that out of Rs Rs 7000 crore intended to be spent on the Games, only half the amount was spent on Indian Sportspersons. Not only did the scam put Suresh Kalmadi, the sacked CWG Chairperson behind bars, but the recent report has also indicted Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister, New Delhi of causing financial irregularities which led to huge losses to the government.
3. Telgi Scam
One of the most dramatic scams in India, Abdul Karim Telgi was the mastermind behind the whole idea of printing forged duplicate stamp papers that made its way into the banks and other institutions. Estimated at a massive cost of Rs 20000 crore, the fake stamp paper and stamp had infiltrated 12 states.
Reports also suggest that the kingpin had government backing which was held responsible for the selling and production of high security stamps.
4. Satyam Scam
The 7,000 crore by Satyam Computer Services scam is one of the biggest scams that the corporate world would ever want to forget.
Ramlinga Raju, ex-chairman of the company was held on the charges of falsifying the accounts of the company for years together gain profit. The company was however overtaken by Tech Mahindra after it offered to buy a equity of 20 crore in Satyam.
5. Bofors Scam
The Bofors scandal is one of the biggest scam that cripple India. The Bofors scam was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s and grough a major setback Gandhi’s ruling Indian National Congress party. 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. It has been speculated that the scale of the scandal was to the tune of 400 million. The case came to light during Vishwanath Pratap Singh’s tenure as defense minister.
The name of the middleman associated with the scandal was Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman who represented the petrochemicals firm Snamprogetti. Quattrocchi was reportedly close to the family of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and emerged as a powerful broker in the 1980s between big businesses and the Indian government.
6. The Fodder Scam
The famous 1996 fodder scam also famously known as the Chara Ghotala scam involved a whopping amount of Rs 950 crore. The fabricated case involved taking reimbursement from the state’s treasury that included animal husbandry equipment, medicine and fodder for ‘vast herds of fictitious livestock.
7. The Hawala Scandal:
The $18 million scam came to light after the country’s top political leaders were involved in receiving payments through hawala brokers. The Jain brothers were the main accused in the whole scandals who were apprehended by the police in 1995.
From the list of those accused also included Lal Krishna Advani who was then the Leader of Opposition. Thus, for the first time in Indian politics, it gave a feeling of open loot all around the public, involving all the major political players being accused of having accepted bribes and also alleged connections about payments being channelled to Hizbul Mujahideen militants in Kashmir.
8. IPL Scam
India who proudly boast over its frenzy created by IPL 20-20 cricket also carries the same of a scandal with IPL. It started when IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi revealed that Tharoor’s friend Sunanda Pushkar had equity stakes in Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), heading the consortium that owns the Kochi team. It was later disclosed that Pushkar got sweat equity of the value of Rs 70 crore. Shashi Tharoor maintained that the amount had nothing to do with his active campaigning and mentoring for the Kochi team. This was less convincing as he had specifically mentioned that he had no specific gains from RSW winning Kochi Franchisee. Income Tax investigation report into match-fixing angle in the IPL revealed Lalit Modi has interests in three teams.
9. Harshad Mehta & Ketan Parekh Stock Market Scam
Harshad Mehta & Ketan Parekh Stock Market Scam came as a shocker for many.It was basically a fraud done in the capital market with the investors by manipulating the facts in order to attain enormous profits 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. Harshad Mehta went to become one of the successful broker in India. The scam involved huge diversion of funds and intra tading. He triggered a rise in the Bombay stock exchange in the year 1992 by trading in shares at a premium across many segments. Taking advantage of the loopholes in the banking system, Harshal and his associates triggered a securities scam diverting funds into 400 crores from the banks to stockbrokers between 1991 to may 1992.
10. 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.
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