Despite several regulatory and technological safeguards being put in place to prevent frauds in the banking space, they continue unabated. Scams, dishonest schemes or frauds, are not only rob the nation of its money but also drive it towards the path of deteriorated political and social health.
We have gathered 12 biggest scams in the History of India that have robbed us of our money.
Vijay Mallya – Rs. 9000 Crore
There was a time when people wont to call him the ‘King of excellent times’, but today things are faraway from being good for him. We’re talking about liquor baron Vijay Mallya. In 2016, Mallya absconded the country and sought refuge within the UK after he was accused of fraud and concealment within the country. Vijay Mallya allegedly owes various banks over Rs 9000 crores, which he’d taken as a loan to stay his now defunct Kingfisher airlines from failing. He was recently declared a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
Coalgate Scam – Rs. 1.86 lakh crore
The coal allocation scam or ‘Coalgate’ may be a political scandal that surfaced in 2012 when the UPA government was in power. The scam was delivered to notice by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), once they accused the govt of illegally allocating 194 coal blocks between 2004 and 2009. This was one among the scams that shook the entire nation from its core as many bureaucrats and politicians were involved during this . Although the CAG initially estimated the loss of over Rs 10 lakh crore, the ultimate report mentioned the scam amount was Rs 1.86 lakh crore.
2G Spectrum scam – Rs. 1,76,000 crore
In 2008, the govt came under scrutiny when it had been alleged that that they had undercharged mobile telephone companies for frequency allocation licenses that were wont to create 2G spectrum subscriptions, and at the centre of this controversy was the previous Telecom minister A. Raja himself. The CAG had stated that “the difference between the cash collected which mandated to be collected was Rs. 1.76 trillion.” (Rs. 1,76,000 crore) In 2012, the spectrum was declared as “unconstitutional and arbitrary” by the Supreme Court and led to the cancellation of over 120 licenses.
Commonwealth Games scam – Rs. 70,000 crore
In 2010, the Commonwealth Games held in India made more headlines for the controversies and corruption it had been involved in than the games itself. the entire event was marred with accusations of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery and therefore the chairman of Common Wealth Games 2010 Suresh Kalmadi was accused of corruption and malpractices. it had been also reported that the Indian athletes were forced to remain in terrible conditions rather than the accommodation allotted to them by the authorities.
BOFORS scandal – Rs. 64 Crore
This is a serious weapons-contract scandal that happened between India and Sweden during the 1980s and 90s. In 1986, India reportedly signed a deal worth Rs 1437 crore (approx) with the Swedish manufacturer Bofors AB, to provide their 155mm field howitzer to the Indian Army. Many politicians including the then PM Rajiv Gandhi were accused of receiving bribes or “kickbacks” worth over Rs. 64 crores for the deal. In today’s time, the Bofors scam is estimated to be around Rs. 400 crore.
Nirav Modi PNB Bank fraud – Rs. 11,400 Crore
Diamonds are a person or woman’s ally , but diamantaires like Nirav Modi aren’t . one among the foremost controversial scams, this fraud reportedly happened through Punjab National bank’s Brady house brand. Not just Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and two senior PNB officials were also involved during this fraud. In 2018, PNB filed a case with CBI accusing Nirav Modi and therefore the companies he was connected to of obtaining Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) from PNB without paying up the margin amount against loans. This meant that if those companies did not pay the loan, PNB would have had to pay the quantity .
Agusta Westland chopper scam – Rs. 3600 Crore
One of the infamous defence scandals in India, this case is a few 2010 deal signed between the UPA government and AgustaWestland for acquisition of 12 helicopters that were alleged to be employed by the President of India, the Prime Minister and perform other VVIP duties. The deal was worth Rs 3600 crore and it had been alleged that a lot of middlemen include some politicians and defence officials received bribes to tweak the deal to assist AgustaWestland.
Satyam scam – Rs. 14,000 crore
This 2009 corporate scam is additionally referred to as ‘India’s Enron Scandal’ and revolves around B Ramalinga Raju and his Satyam Computer Services Ltd. the corporate admitted that they misrepresented, manipulated and falsified their accounts of over Rs 14,000 crore, ahead of its board, stock exchanges, investors and other stakeholders.
Hawala scam – $18 million
Hawala scandal came to public attention within the 1990s, which also threw spotlight on politicians like LK Advani, Arjun Singh, Yeshwant Sinha and Madan Lal Khurana and more who were said to be involved within the bribery. This scam revolved round the hawala brothers also referred to as Jain brothers, who were linked to a raid on terrorists. it had been found that the payments of supposed black money were done by these politicians through the brother
Fodder Scam – Rs. 900 -crore
By setting aside the Jharkhand High Court’s verdict, the Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for a fresh trial of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad, former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, and other accused in a criminal case involving the withdrawal of money and falsification of records from the Deoghar Treasury in connection with the ₹900-crore fodder scam.
Two decades have passed since the scam was unearthed. It involved politicians and bureaucrats belonging to successive administrations siphoning off several crores of rupees, on the pretext of purchasing livestock feed, over a period of 20 years. It was one of the early cases where sitting legislators were convicted and had to lose their Assembly and parliamentary seats. It is also the reason why a popular leader such as Mr. Prasad is not contesting elections, even though he played a key role in the RJD-JD(U) combine wresting power in Bihar.
Harshad Mehta Scam of 1992 – Rs 24000 crores
The magnitude of the Harshad Mehta scam was so big, that if put into perspective today, it brought a bear market in the Dalal street. If we look into the numbers, this single man deceived the entire nation with an amount of over (which is way bigger than Nirav Modi or Vijay Mallaya scams).
Today, we take a look at how the Harshad Mehta scam was executed and possibly try to understand how he was able to fool the entire Dalal market and even the Indian banking systems. Further, we’ll also discuss why he plays such a considerable role in our pop culture and that too not as an antagonist.
Saradha Chit fund scam : Rs. 500 crore
Calcutta High Court directed the West Bengal government on Friday to inform how it plans to disburse an unutilised amount of over ₹138 crore out of Rs. 500 crore earmarked for compensating investors duped in the Saradha Chit fund scam
A Division Bench, comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Suvra Ghosh, observed that it was a declared scheme for compensating the investors, for which the amount of ₹500 crore was allotted by the State.