Parts 1 through 12 of this series can be accessed from this page.
Epilogue
Why did I write this series
I was an engineer, then an inventor and then an entrepreneur. Writing is something that I picked up as a hobby, to share my thoughts with a wider audience. In the last 12 months I have dealt with four topics at length, all of them connected to scams in the Financial sector of India. This is my fourth and the most detailed as yet. In some ways, one led to the other.
…unless India can ensure that the right investment goes to the right entity at the right time, creating jobs and prosperity for its growing population is going to be impossible.
The first appeared in July 2016, titled #ForexDerivativeScam[1]. In a six-part series, I laid out the intricacies of Derivatives, then Currency Derivatives and further how Small and Medium Enterprises(SME) were ripped off by their own bankers who sold them exotic derivatives titled Kick In Kick Out (KIKO) derivatives. SMEs have not yet recovered from the body blows they received from this. And it happened almost 10 years ago. In a grave travesty of justice, a case is lying in the Supreme Court untouched. M R Venkatesh, a noted writer, commentator, auditor and TV personality, has filed a petition with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money, constituted by the Supreme Court of India to immediately intervene and review this Forex Derivative Scam. The petition alleges that in several instances, the Regulator, notably the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), either failed to or did not intervene. Action on this from the SIT is still awaited.
The second in these was on #BringBackBillions. In this series[2], I detailed the efforts of three countries Philippines, Egypt and Libya to get back the billions looted by their dictators. There was something new learnt from the experiences of each of those countries. India, I reasoned, being a truly democratic nation, has a better chance than these countries, who are taking baby steps towards becoming democracies. This came in the months of Jul-Aug 2016.
The third was on #HFTScam[3], written in the month of Sep 2017, detailing what happened in a five-year period in the NSE, where a few allegedly conspired to make Rs.50,000 – Rs.100,000 crores (approx. $20 billion). This was based on a series of letters written by a Whistleblower explaining how a few gamed the NSE servers to make crores of money every trading day. SEBI has started acting on it and several other agencies have jumped in to look into more details of the crimes committed.
And the fourth is this series on C-Company[4]. There is diversity in each of these topics discussed and there is a message that each one brings for the awareness of the public. If Forex Derivatives Scam deals with how greedy banks can become in selling toxic products to customers not well conversant and how regulation was not tough on them as they should be; BringBackBillions was to highlight the imperative for stringent measures to arrest corruption that is bleeding the country and HFTScam mainly dealt with the issue of how a national institution of great importance such as a stock exchange can allow preference and bias to a select few in trade execution that goes counter to the spirit of public markets. In regard to C-Company, it is reflection of a sad state of the country where a coterie of people holding power and authority, to serve their limited interests, can go to any extent and resort to any devious means to malign and manipulate a domestic enterprise and do unlimited harm to the entrepreneur, usurp the vast enterprise that he created in India and abroad and waste the stellar contributions that his enterprises made to the economy in terms of new market segments, new business opportunities, newer jobs and self-sustaining self-employment opportunities. All these series making a telling point that in a country governed by the rule of law and the spirit of democracy, no power, or authority or official should be allowed to indulge in practices that harm the interest of the nation and any such action should be thoroughly investigated and bring the culprits to book.
The astute reader will observe that all these 4 series have one common element among them. Other than the fact that these are White collar crimes, committed in the sector of Finance. I have laid before you all the facts that I uncovered so you can make an informed decision on who is responsible.
Conclusion
Unless India can ensure that the right investment goes to the right entity at the right time, creating jobs and prosperity for its growing population is going to be impossible. For this to happen, India’s Financial infrastructure – viz. Banks, Regulating agencies and Stock Markets have to be fair, transparent and robust. Many of you are just getting introduced to Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds and you must read this series. To fully reap the gains from these, the Stock Market should be fair to one and all. I have tried my best to de-mystify some hard to understand terms and concepts and would encourage the reader to go back to Part 1 and start from there and try and read them all in one sitting. Happy reading!
[1] #ForexDerivativeScam – How SMEs got ripped off – Jul 2016, PGurus.com
[2] #BringBackBillions – How India can quickly recover money from Tax Havens – Aug 2016, PGurus.com
[3] #HFTScam – The anatomy of a Crime – Sep-Oct 2017, PGurus.com
[4] C-Company – How Chidambaram made his fortune using Babus, Bankers and Businessesmen – Nov-Dec 2017, PGurus.com
His first book NDTV Frauds has been published and is an Amazon Bestseller.It ranked second among all eBooks that were self-published in 2017.
His second book, The Gist of GSTN which too is available on Amazon as an e-Book and as a paperback.
His third book, The Rise and Fall of AAP is also available in print version or as an e-Book on Amazon.
His fourth book, C-Company just released to rave reviews and can be bought as a print version or as an e-Book on Amazon.
- Indian Parliament’s Special Session is convened to mark the shifting to new Parliament building - September 3, 2023
- Why did Rajat Sharma of India TV not declare that Adani owns more than 16% shares in his channel? - January 29, 2023
- Prannoy Roy to get Rs.605 crore from Adani as per Stock Exchange filing. Why is Income Tax not acting on Roys’ dues of over Rs.800 crore? - January 4, 2023
