Top ten Corruption Scams in India
The Fodder Scam
Embezzled: 900 Crore
The Scam
The Fodder Scam or the ‘chara ghotala’ had been running under the nose of the government ever since the early 70s.
Government officials who were responsible for supplying basic necessities like fodder, medicines, artificial insemination etc for the state illegally siphoned off the government’s fund and supplied less than the required facilities leading to false reports of their expenditures.
Legal Actions
The monthly delay in the submission of reports by the Bihar State Treasury attracted the attention of T.N Chaturvedi the then CAG who issued a warning to them, which the Bihar officials ignored, this then ultimately led to several investigations and CBI probe. More than 500 people were convicted, by various courts after the completion of the trial in 2013. The big names who were the prime suspects were former Chief Ministers of Bihar Laloo Prasad Yadav and Jagannath Mishra who will be serving 5 years and 4 years in jail respectively.
The Telgi Scam
Embezzled: 20,000 Crore
The Scam
Abdull karim Telgi, with the support of corrupt police officers as well as powerful politicians was able to sell his counterfeit stamps to many bulk purchasers like, Banks, Insurance companies and share broking firm
Conviction and trials
Abdul Karim Telgi along with 30 others were awarded a 13 year rigorous imprisonment on 17 January 2006. Telgi was also slapped with a fine of $ 16 million, which the tax department requested that his assets and properties be confiscated to pay the fine.
The Satyam Scam
Embezzled: 14,000 Crore
The Scam
In a sudden turn of events on December 16th 2008, the chairman of Satyam company Ramalingam Raju made a move to buy two companies named the Maytas Infrastructure ltd and Maytas properties ltd for $1.6 billion. This offer did not get the approval of the investors who turned it down forcing Raju to retreat within 12 hours. Their share prices plunged by 55% and thus began the downfall of Satyam company. In 2009 Ramalingam Raju confessed of embezzling company’s funds and that the company’s accounts were falsified.
Legal Actions
CBI took over the investigation in 2009. Ramalingam and two others were granted bail by the Supreme court on 4 November 2011 as the CBI were unsuccessful in filing a chargesheet against the suspects who had already served jail sentence for more than 33 years
The Commonwealth games Scam
Embezzled: 70,000 Crore
The Scam
A day after the conclusion of the Commonwealth games, the government of India had called for a special investigation to probe the allegation of corruption and the mismanagement against the Organising committee. Sports authorities and Several prominent government officials were suspected to have misused the funds which was aimed for spending in the preparation of the games. It was reported that on 25 April CBI arrested Suresh Kalmadi for his role in the time-Scoring-Result case. A total of 53 cases were being investigated by the CVC(Central Vigilance Commission).
Legal Actions
Suresh Kalmadi along with eight others including former OC General Secretary Lalit Bhahot and Director General VK Verma have been accused by the CBI for various provisions of the Indian Penal Code which deals with criminal conspiracy, forging documents and using fake documents as genuine. Section 13(1)(d) of the prevention of the corruption act. Suresh Kalmadi and the others accused are still fighting the case. As a result of this, Suresh Kalmadi has been suspended from his Indian Youth Congress team and also has been ousted from the Indian Olympic Authority of India.
The 2G spectrum Case
Embezzled :1.76lakh Crore
The scam
Government officials misused their powers yet again and gave birth to one of India’s most expensive corruption scams. The then telecom Minister A Raja along with several others including his wife Kanimozi were accused of providing 2G license to various companies who did not qualify to buy them. A report given by the Comptroller General Auditor showed the enormous difference between the price mandated and the price offered by A Raja.
Legal Actions
A Raja was arrested by the CBI on 2 February 2011, he was granted bail on 15 May 2012, as of August 2012, his trial was being conducted in a special CBI court.
M.K. Kanimozhi was taken into custody on 20 may 2011, she was granted bail on 28 November 2011 after speding 188 days in judicial custody.
Pramod Mahajan, Siddhart Behura and RK Chandolia are the others accused who were also facing their trial in a special CBI court.
The Coal Scam
Embezzled:1.86 Lakh Crore
The Scam
The report presented by CAG revealed a staggering amount of India’s coal being illegally deposited to private and state run firms instead of auctioning them in the public. This resulted in a huge loss in terms of money and resources as coal make up to 56% of the nations electricity production.
Legal Actions
Some prominent government officials like Subodh Krant Sahay, S Jagathrakshakan, Nitin Gadkari, Premchand Gupta, Naveen Jindal and many others are among the accused.
On 24 September the Supreme Court cancelled 214 out of 218 coal blocks and also announced that operational mines would have to pay a penalty of Rs. 295 for every tone of coal extracted since they started.
