The word scam and corruption have become synonymous with the campaign that Anna Hazare, along with his supporters, has undertaken.
These two words are, almost entirely, responsible for the political and social state that our country is in today. The entire nation suffered economically and faced humiliation because of the greed of a few individuals.
Though Anna Hazare, has been able to wake the nation from its slumber to a great extent, the damage that has already been done by these scams cannot be erased.
Here is MensXP’s pick of India’s Top 10 corruption scams.
1. Indian Black Money Scam
Cost: Rs. 7,280,000 Crores
Face of the Scam: Hassan Ali Khan
This scam can be said to be the almost immediate cause of the anti-corruption movement being faced by the country. The revelation about the huge sums of money being stashed away in Swiss banks served as an impetus to rally against the government that had been ignoring it. The magnanimity of the situation came into focus when Indian businessman was arrested on money laundering charges which was to the tune of Rs. 39,120 crores.
2. CWG Scam
Cost: Rs. 70,000 crores
Face of the Scam: Suresh Kalmadi
The Commonwealth Games held in India was an even that was soaked in controversies and corruption to say the least. While the organizing committee drew flak for various allegations like child labour, sex slavery, environmental impact, racism and financial costs, the one that shocked the nation was the humungous amount of funds that had been mishandled by them. The chairman of the organizing committee was, resultantly, arrested on charges of 'criminal conspiracy and cheating.'
3. 2G Spectrum Scam
Cost: Rs 176,000 crore
Face of the Scam: A. Raja & M. K. Kanimozhi
The 2G scam is one of the latest scams that have hit our country driving it to incur huge losses. And caught at the centre of the embarrassing controversy was the Telecom Minister, A. Raja himself. The scam became bigger with new revelations of the involvement of politicians, bureaucrats, corporate personalities, media persons and lobbyists. The granting of licenses to various companies led to a massive loss to the exchequer. Also, daughter of political heavyweight,M. Karunanidhi, M. Kanimozhi was also arrested on charges of being a co-conspirator in the scandal.
4. Scorpene Submarine Scam
Cost: Rs 18,978 crores
Face of the Scam: Ravi Shankaran
The Scorpene submarines scam was one of the biggest corruption scandals faced by the country and including the navy. In the scandal, secret Navy documents were sold to the makers of the Scorpene submarine. The Indian government had approved the 19,000 crore submarine deal with the French company. The purchase of six Scorpene submarines cost the Indian government a lot more than its actual price.
5. Stamp Paper Scam
Cost: Rs 20,000 crores
Face of the Scam: Abdul Karim Telgi
The Stamp Paper scam was perhaps the most innovative scam in the list. Abdul Karim Telgi, a former fruits and vegetables seller, duped the nation of crores of rupees by printing fake stamp papers. He began his counterfeit career by making fake passports after which he started selling fake stamp papers to banks, insurance companies, share broking firms and bulk purchases. What was surprising, was the involvement of many police officers and other government employees. In fact, one police officer was said to have assets worth Rs. 100 crores despite earning only Rs. 9000 a month.
6. Bofors Scam
Cost: Rs. 400 million
Face of the Scam: Ottavio Quattrocchi
The Bofors scandal that hit the country was a major corruption scandal which changed the fate of the, then ruling, Congress party. Top politicians like Rajiv Gandhi and S.K. Bhatnagar and high profile names like Win Chadha and the Hinduja family were accused of "receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer." The scale of the corruption was such that it immediately led to the defeat of the government headed by Rajiv Gandhi. Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, was the prime accused in the scandal and was chased by the CBI for years.
7. Mining Scam
Cost: Rs. 300,000 crores
Face of the Scam: Naveen Patnaik government
This scam was plundering at its best with the Naveen Patnaik led government exploiting the state's minerals to the tune of lakhs of crores of rupees. Apparently, the mine owners had been illegally using fake Transit Passes to transport minerals from Orissa to other states. The plundering was a large scale one and involved many high profile people from the government and bureaucracy.
8. Fodder Scam
Cost: Rs. 950 crores
Face of the Scam: Lalu Prasad Yadav
Bihar's most famous scam was the one involving fodder and ex- Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. The officials of the Bihar state government embezzled funds worth Rs. 950 crores by fabricating vast herds of fictitious livestock for which fodder, medicines and animal husbandry equipment were acquired. Soon, Lalu resigned from the post following immense pressure from all quarters owing to his close involvement in the case.
9. Hawala Scam
Cost: US$ 18 billion
Face of the Scam: L.K Advani/ Late Narasimha Rao
Hawala scam was probably the first scam that gave the public an idea of the the loot of national treasure that was being implemented by the top politicians. The scam revolved around the payments that the politicians received from hawala brokers, who basically fund terrorism around the globe. Many prominent politicians like LK Advani, Arjun Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Kalpnath Roy, VC Shukla, Madhavrao Scindia, Sharad Yadav, Buta Singh, Natwar Singh and Madan Lal Khurana were indicted in this case, but no action was taken against them due to lack of hardcore evidence.
10. Satyam Scam
Cost: Rs. 14,000 crores
Face of the Scam: B. Ramalinga Raju
The Satyam Scam was the biggest corporate scam that the country ever saw. The founder of the Satyam Group, Raju, resigned after he admitted to fudging the account books for years and falsely inflating the profit figures and revenues of Satyam for years. The credibility of the company fell hugely, owing to the scam and it was finally taken over by the Mahindra Group.
