TOP 10 Biggest Indian Scams Ever
With time, technology has evolved at a massive rate, this has brought blessings and curses for the people. We have all witnessed several political and financial scams/frauds in our country involving money worth millions of dollars.
And these are just the ones that have been revealed; let’s not even mention others that have yet to be discovered. With so much capital at its disposal, one can’t help but question if India would still be a growing country if the money had been spent as intended.
Here is the list of TOP 10 Biggest Indian Scams ever:
1. 2G SPECTRUM SCAM (2008)
Scam Amount: Rs. 4,47,070
This is THE mother of all scams. The Supreme Court recently stated that the spectrum swindle had put ‘all other scams to shame’. Former telecom minister A Raja was forced to retire when the CAG accused him in the 2G spectrum scandal, which resulted in a loss of approximately 176,000 crore to the national exchequer.
The issue centered around the telecom ministry’s alleged irregularities in allocating wireless radio spectrum and licences to commercial operators, some of whom were ineligible. Licenses were issued, and spectrum was allocated at an exceptionally cheap price (2001 rates in 2008), resulting in a massive loss to the national treasury.
2. Coal Allocation Scam (2012)
Scam Amount: Rs. 3,23,640
On February 27, 2009, two private corporations acquired large coal blocks. Both blocks were in Orissa, with one exceeding 300 mega metric tonnes and the other exceeding 1500 mega metric tonnes. The combined value of these blocks exceeded Rs 2 trillion (on a short scale), and they were intended for coal liquification.
3. COMMONWEALTH GAMES SCAM (2010)
Scam Amount: Rs. 1,45,870
Even before the much-anticipated sporting event could begin, it was doused in charges of wrongdoing. The scam, estimated to be worth around 35,000 crore, includes irregularities such as payment to non-existent parties, willful delays in contract execution, over-inflated prices, bungling in the purchase of equipment through tenders, and theft of cash. Suresh Kalmadi, former head of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, was charged and later sentenced by the CBI in April 2011.
4. TELGI SCAM (2003)
Scam Amount: Rs. 63,850 Cr
Abdul Karim Telgi’s name is still vividly remembered throughout India. The scam artist who shocked the entire nation with his mastery of forgeries in making replica stamp papers. The scandal involved 12 states and was estimated to be worth more than 20,000 crore. With the help of various government departments, this swindle was one of the first to expose the despicable corrupt activities of politicians and beaurocrats alike.
5. Ketan Parekh Scam (2001)
Scam Amount: Rs. 1,39,400
The scheme entailed manipulating stock prices to benefit himself and his associates. One of the gaps exploited by Ketan Parekh was the absence of regulation and control over the Indian stock market at the time. He employed many shell firms to affect the price of specific stocks via circular trading.
6. DHFL Scam (2019)
Scam Amount: Rs. 37,320 Cr
The audit indicated that DHFL allegedly disbursed more than Rs 29,000 crore to 66 organizations linked to the company’s promoters, the Wadhawan brothers. These loans avoided traditional loan evaluation processes, lacked due scrutiny, and frequently lacked adequate collateral.
7. HARSHAD MEHTA SCAM (1992)
Scam Amount: Rs. 33,250 Cr
Harshad Mehta, often known as the Big Bull, took advantage of weaknesses in the banking system to cause a spike in the Bombay Stock Exchange in 1992 by trading shares at a premium across various segments. He and his friends misappropriated around Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) from banks to stockbrokers between April 1991 and May 1992. He was subsequently charged with 72 felony offenses.
8. SATYAM SCAM (2012)
Scam Amount: Rs. 33,020 Cr
Satyam scam is the largest fraud in the Indian corporate business to date, totaling 14,000 crore. Ramalinga Raju, Satyam’s disgraced former chairman, is accused of falsifying the company’s financial records for several years and exaggerating revenue and profit figures. His attempts to replace the “fictitious assets with real ones” through Maytas acquisition failed, so he chose to admit the crime. India’s fourth largest IT business lost an astounding Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in market value as investors reacted aggressively and ditched shares, driving the scrip down by 78% to Rs 39.95 on the Bombay Stock Exchange in a single day.
9. AGB Shipyard Scam(2009)
Scam Amount: Rs. 32,920 Cr
ABG Shipyard Ltd, charged in India’s largest bank fraud case, set up 27 “paper companies” and used 38 Singapore-based group corporations to siphon monies borrowed from ICICI Bank-led lenders. The chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate discloses that the diverted monies were transported to Singapore and invested in tax havens.
10. Granite Scam (2012)
Scam Amount: Rs. 27,840 Cr
Ubagarampillai Sagayam, a former civil servant in Madurai, wrote a letter to the chief secretary of the State Industries Department on May 19, 2012, reporting major violations by many granite quarries in the Madurai district, estimating a loss of more than sixteen thousand crore rupees.
Read More: PL 2024 Final: KKR vs SRH – Match Preview, Prediction, Team News and Fantasy XI
