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The Great Indian Fraud

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How do tax havens and syndicates running shell companies help fraudsters escape the long arm of the law?
How does the ambiguity of valuation in the start-up ecosystem increase its vulnerability to corporate fraud?
How are manufacturers and exporters from China exploiting India's Free Trade Area (FTA) with other countries to dump goods at artificially low prices in the Indian market?
What challenges does the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China pose for regulators of India?
Why do people fall for Ponzi and pyramid schemes again and again?

Serious frauds affect society and economy in damaging ways, belittling the common man's trust in the system. Yet, barely do we understand how these affect our lives. A first-of-its-kind, The Great Indian Fraud reveals how all such frauds result from the manipulation of complex financial transactions, involving simple mathematics and tricks, to deceive regulators, enforcers, business partners and customers.
Drawing on his experience in the fields of forensic audit and financial investigation, author Smarak Swain explains the modus operandi behind some of the most notorious cases of fraud-Haridas Mundhra, Jayanti Dharma Teja, Harshad Mehta, Ketan Parekh, Hasan Ali Khan, B. Ramalinga Raju, Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Nirmal Singh Bhangoo and many more-narrating the rise and fall of the greatest fraudsters of our times.

Informative and skilfully narrated, The Great Indian Fraud is a must-read to understand how frauds happen, how law enforcement agencies handle crises, the sectors that witness maximum frauds as well as the emerging sectors that are at high risk.

Paperback

Published October 18, 2020

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Smarak Swain

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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for Parth Agrawal.
130 reviews19 followers
April 19, 2023
I am only going to say this that this book is meant for anyone out there who wants to understand how frauds in India have been committed so far and how to prevent its recurrence. I have been looking for such since a very long time and I am so glad that I stumbled upon this author. The rest of my review is going to contain spoilers so please read at your own risk :)

He has classified the types of frauds into 6 categories. Some of the most impressive ones that I came across:

1) The Perfect Bank Heist or the Loan Fraud: I found this very interesting that the author drew attention towards this fact nugget that even though Vijay Mallya is the poster boy of fraudulent activities when it comes to financial institutions in India, his default was to the tune of Rs. 10306 crore as on November 30, 2015, as compared to Nirav modi's default of Rs. 18000 crore, Bhushan steel's default of Rs 45818 crore and IL&FS fraud of Rs. 90000 crore. It would serve us well to observe that the size hasn't been decreasing. The increase is exponential. One of the most common methods that the companies resort to is layering of funds through a series of companies extending unsecured loans to their subsidiaries or making royalty payments for meaningless software so that multiple trips enable the money to end up in the accounts of the owners of the company. When the threat of repayment looms large, these companies approach the lenders showing their stellar record of repayment and secure new loans which they use to pay off the old ones and the cycle goes on. Lately, instead of showing tangible real structures as their assets, companies are coming up with junk software programmes whose valuation is almost impossible to do. Since valuation even from a 3rd party is not conclusive in this, the IPR becomes the sole security of the financier which has rendered lenders unsecured more often than not.

2) Securities Fraud: The Harshad Mehta scam of 1992 is the emblematic story of a fraudster gaming Dalal street in India. What he pulled off is called as pump and dump scheme. In this scheme, you buy shares of certain companies in huge volumes so that their market float decreases and price increases. Mr. Mehta did this with ACC's stock such that stock price went from Rs. 200 to Rs 9000 in 3 months which is a 4500% return. He got out at the peak while the gullible investors got trapped with their losses. However, in order to pull this scheme off, you need huge funds to reduce the free float. It turned out that banks in money market lent funds to each other to meet daily or short term shortfall. The process of transfer of money and issuance of receipt in exchange was facilitated by the brokers. Mr. Mehta somehow convinced the banks to the transfer the money to him and collect receipts from him. The money stayed with him for a limited period during which time he used to employ it in the stock market. As he used to exit at peaks, he used to return the money and pocketed the profit. As the scheme unraveled, the sheer magnitude of it gave birth to our current market watchdog SEBI.

3) EXIM fraud: In order to understand this fraud, we will have to understand the players in the game. There is an importer, an exporter, customs and trade authorities which tax imports and incentivizes exports. So when the importer tries to import something, the supplier and importer are from different countries and the trust element is low. Supplier would want to be paid as soon as the goods leave his facility while importer would want to pay once he receives and checks that they are of same quality and specification as was promised. This deficit is filled by an overseas bank which pays the supplier right away. Now the importer and the overseas bank are not of the same country so it will be difficult for the overseas bank to extend credit facility to the importer without due diligence and that could be cumbersome. So, the importer approaches its own local bank and secures a letter of credit or bank guarantee. This is presented by the importer to the overseas bank. Now if the importer defaults, overseas bank shall remain protected because the money shall be provided by the guarantor bank which has issued the LC or BG. This nexus is so nebulous that it provides with a lot of opportunities to swindle. I am not going into the details of this one because it shall become too lengthy. I would suggest that one should definitely read this in order to protect oneself from getting fleeced in any way

As one will go through this book, they will realize how many organizations which have been created or mandated to deal with this menace be it Serious fraud investigation office, SEBI, RBI, National financial reporting authority, Ministry of Corporate affairs, Institute of chartered accounts of India etc. It is amazing to know that so many dedicated Indians are committed to contain this issue and are going about it in an organized manner. I must say that I didn't expect that such difficult concepts could be explained so easily and beautifully by any one but the author has defied my expectations. A must must must read!!
157 reviews1 follower
June 26, 2023
A rollercoaster....

How frauds happen and how it affected the economy...and where are the offenders....everything.... great job 👍
Profile Image for Preetam Chatterjee.
7,327 reviews409 followers
July 10, 2023
Book: The Great Indian Fraud: Serious Frauds Which Shook the Economy
Author: Smarak Swain
Publisher: ‎ Bloomsbury India (18 October 2020)
Language: ‎ English
Paperback: ‎ 324 pages
Item Weight: ‎ 370 g
Dimensions: ‎ 20.3 x 25.4 x 4.7 cm
Country of Origin: ‎ India
Price: 432/-

Why are there so many global financial frauds? This is a query that the author poses over and over again in this book.

At a rudimentary level, every scam, every swindle, is a problem of control. Wherever control miscarries, fraudsters manipulate the ambiguity. However, the problem of cyclical financial frauds is more than merely a problem of control.

Every momentous fraud is dealt with by narrowing standards and disclosure requirements. And yet, financial frauds relapse. The motive behind this is the increasing complication of financial dealings.

What this remarkably well written and researched book does, is to outline serious frauds, their technique and their bearing on economic institutions.

The book goes on to show that the formula followed in serious frauds are derived from elementary mathematics and logic. Modus operandi of most serious frauds we have read about in recent years are akin to the ones perceived decades ago.

That indicates, the modus operandi of serious frauds has not essentially altered over time.

The intricacy of the system has changed, which has helped serious frauds to recur and perpetuate the system.

This book seeks to abridge dubious schemes of our times that appear unintelligible. There are only a handful of modus operandi that lead to serious frauds and they are derived from basic mathematics and logic.

The hoary modus is being operated behind shrouds of multifaceted corporate structures and bizarre financial instruments.

The following chapters make up this book:

1) The Perfect Bank Heist: Loan Fraud
2) Taking Stock: Securities Fraud
3) Hustlers of High Seas: EXIM Fraud
4) Chefs Who Cook Books: Accounting Fraud
5) Merchants of Delusive Dreams: Pyramid and Ponzi Schemes
6) Shells, Mailboxes and Islands: The Fraud Ecosystem

The first chapter on Bank Frauds narrates the unbelievable tale of how fraudulent loans are taken and then siphoned off. Fraudsters, who manage to set up a vicious cycle of availing loans, perpetuate the biggest frauds against lending institutions.

The second chapter offers an outline of unfair trade practices in the stock market and talks about how some of these securities frauds adopt grave proportions by disseminating vicious cycles.

The third chapter displays how mispricing in international trade is used to swap funds and commit EXIM frauds. Other interesting modus operandi, involving GST frauds and sidestepping of anti-dumping duties, are also argued in this chapter.

The fourth chapter speaks of a few of the many types of corporate frauds that involve creative accounting practices.

The fifth chapter deliberates on pyramid and ponzi schemes that are nearer to the ordinary meaning of swindling.

The sixth chapter discourses on shell companies, mailbox companies and secrecy jurisdictions that simplify and aid fraudulent acts. In a way, they constitute a an advantageous ecosystem that charlatans exploit and count on.

The author also discusses numerous convicted fraudsters as also live cases wherein law enforcement authorities have levelled severe accusations, but the matter has not yet reached a conclusiveness in judicial forums.

Why should you read this book?

You should read this book merely for a deep knowledge of financial frauds, which are like cheat codes that can demoralize a free market economy. Small and stray frauds such as credit card fraud or phishing affect some people, but grave frauds in the financial system of an economy disturb the whole economy.

**First, it affects the level of trust people have in the market. Similarly, whenever a serious fraud hits the news, people lose their confidence on the entire market. The market’s integrity is questioned.

**A second consequence is that it undermines the level of trust within the market. Individual and institutional investors withdraw their investments from the market, thus affecting the market’s efficiency. The call for greater regulation translates into reactive rules that require more stringent documentation and due diligence. This, too, affects the market’s efficiency.

**A third result, which happens in the case of widely rampant frauds, is economic rift. Hence, preventing serious frauds is one of the prime responsibilities of the government that believes in free market economy.

In fine, paradoxically, given the convolution of the financial world of our times, it is very tough for any State or regulator to avert financial frauds.

Accordingly, ‘everlasting vigil’ is what the need of the hour is.
80 reviews2 followers
October 15, 2023
Some great examples of frauds from this book (spoilers ahead):
1) Hari Das Mundhra: how he bribed LIC officials to buy his company’s stocks at inflated prices so that Mundhra could mortgage those stocks to get loans to further inflate the stock price. This is an age old trick utilised even today, with almost same set of characters. At that time though, it created a huge scandal, and took the scalp of the then finance minister of India. These days it will not even cause a ripple.
2) Mehul Choksi: He also took rigged his stock price, took loans against them, but unlike Mundhra he siphoned off the ill-gotten gains abroad and fled to enjoy his riches when authorities came calling. His ploy to send money overseas was ingenious: he imported low quality gems and diamonds at inflated prices. Why gems? Because it is very difficult to value their correct price.
3) Nirav Modi: The infamous cricket czar had a devious mind when it came to financial shenanigans. He devised a cunning method to defraud Indian banks. He created multiple shell companies all across the world and did bogus import-export dealings with those entities, importing worthless items at highly inflated prices (like Mehul Choksi) and then asking a local bank in Mumbai to give guarantees of payment on his behalf. This guarantee was used to pay to the exporter from a foreign bank. So the exporter (a Nirav Modi shell company) got money for exporting almost nothing. Some of this money was used to pay a small fee to the bank guaranteeing the payment (called LC or letter of credit). This went for long till it could no longer and then Modi fled.
4) GST frauds: The inherent flaws in the GST architecture (input tax credit and inverted tax structure) has given rise to a fraud industry in itself. Revenue officials are busy playing whack-a-mole.

The author, who is a serving revenue official himself, regales with many such tales. Many of them would be known to the people picking up this book. But nonetheless, writer’s ability to simplify these brazen and complicated financial skulduggery is admirable.

The book is short, and written in very simple language, i guess for wide circulation. Decent read.
Profile Image for Ietrio.
6,948 reviews24 followers
April 20, 2021
Apparently the Great Indian Fraud *is* many. And somehow the guilty are the poor and the workers, whom Swain hates with all his heart, because they have to pay each time something goes wrong:
- economic stimulus: yea, paid by the poor
- fines to government institutions: yea, paid by the poor
- unemployment and other social security for the people out of work: yea, paid by the poor
- fixing everything after the company goes bust: yea, paid by the poor
- health issues, coming with the consequences of the fraud: yea, paid by the poor
- corrupt politicians: yea, paid by the poor
- corrupt police: yea, paid by the poor
- corrupt judges: yea, paid by the poor
- anti-corruption commission: yea, paid by the poor
- and more.
Profile Image for Delson Roche.
256 reviews7 followers
December 1, 2021
The book simply explains various type of economic frauds, with true examples. The frauds themselves are explained in a condensed manner, however the actual working of the fraud is elaboratly laid out.
For example,the Nirav Modi scam is nicely explained.

The author has stayed out of any fraud that has political connotations or connections.

Astonishingly the Sahara scam, the gas scams don't find a mention and hence loses one star.
Profile Image for Francy M C.
16 reviews1 follower
April 27, 2022
Modus Operandi !!!
This is the first time I read upcoming indian author Mr. Smarak Swain and it was amazing. The way of (hi)story telling is interesting and he explained everything with live examples from history of India.

The best thing about this book is how simply it explains the different kind of financial frauds and it covers all the major scams starting from the times of Aurangzeb to Modi.

PS:- I couldn't understand why authour has included a lot cartoon type graphs by which readers are being underestimated.
Profile Image for Devharsh Johri.
1 review1 follower
October 31, 2021
Fantastic read on how financial frauds are perpetrated

Lucid explanation of the major frauds we have heard of in recent times. The story telling skills of the author are inspiring. At no point does the book become abstruse, even as it elucidates such complex financial transactions.
Profile Image for Venu Srinivas.
23 reviews
January 31, 2024
One of the best books I ever read about frauds that shook Indian economy. Looks like author has worked relentlessly to finish this book. Nowhere you would get bored, or would feel like keeping the book down because there is no unnecessary stories being shared just to elaborate the topic, its a straight-forward explanation.
6 reviews
Read
November 22, 2023
Informative, investigative and intuitive

Very good book for CAs, Tax Authorities ,Tax Consultants. The types of frauds being perpetrated by some of the unscrupulous persons /companies are lucidly narrated in a simple yet effective way.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

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