Experts say the recent Rs 14,000-crore PNB fraud could have been avoided had there been an integration of PNB's CBS with its SWIFT system
In the year-long crackdown on tax evasion, the GST authorities have unearthed over Rs 35,000 crore of tax fraud committed by misuse of input tax credit provision under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. During the 2020-21 financial year, the CGST zones and the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) booked about 8,000 cases involving fake ITC of over Rs 35,000 crore, a statement from CBIC said. Under the GST regime, at the time of paying tax on output, entities can reduce the tax they have already paid on inputs.
Days after the fraud allegedly masterminded by diamantaire Nirav Modi came to light, the prime minister asked the management of financial institutions as well as the supervisory bodies to do their job diligently to check such frauds.
However, the RBI declined to share details of action being taken on these fraud cases saying "it is not readily available".
"The CBI Director should be empowered to report directly to the minister and the prime minister with exclusive powers like the Cabinet secretary and should act alone without being under the administration of the central government," the judgment further read.
'A credit line on UPI is going to make banks think about credit fundamentally as they digitise the credit process entirely.'
Shashank Rai, 30, allegedly sought millions of dollars in forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act from two different banks by claiming to have 250 employees earning wages when, in fact, no employee worked for his alleged business.
The GST intelligence unit detected tax evasion of more than Rs 1.98 lakh crore last year and arrested 140 masterminds who were involved in defrauding the exchequer, the finance ministry said on Thursday. In 2023, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) detected significant GST evasion in diverse sectors like online gaming, casinos, insurance and secondment (import of manpower services). "DGGI has achieved an increase in detection of cases of evasion and voluntary payments. In 2023, DGGI detected 6,323 cases involving evasion of duty of Rs 1,98,324 crore with a voluntary payment of Rs 28,362 crore.
The issue relates to alleged Rs 870-crore (Rs 8.7-billion) financial fraud at the company last year.
25,600 cases of banking fraud totalling Rs 1.79 billion were reported up to December 2017. 'There is an inherent legacy when it comes to insuring crime.' 'Generally, most banks are uncomfortable in sharing data about employee fraud.'
Spear-phishing e-mails typically try to steal sensitive information, such as login credentials or financial information, which is then used to commit fraud, identity theft, and other crimes.
Loan against gold as a product is catching on fast. Let's keep the momentum going, but aim for sustainable growth. A few bad apples should not ruin the brunch, argues Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'The focus needs to shift towards the ability to collect payments, particularly in tier-3 to tier-4 areas where acceptance is still lacking.'
Nirav Modi, the fugitive diamond merchant wanted in India to stand trial on fraud and money laundering charges, told a UK court on Thursday that he could be in England for years as some ongoing proceedings prevent his extradition. The 52-year-old former billionaire appeared for a hearing at Barkingside Magistrates' Court in east London via video link from Thameside prison in relation legal costs, or fines, amounting to GBP 150,247.00, accrued over his failed extradition appeal proceedings in the London high court. Dressed in a pink prison-issue outfit and sporting a moustache, a plump and bald Nirav addressed the three-member magistrates' bench to reveal that he had complied with the previous court direction to pay in GBP 10,000 per month towards the fines.
US market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Countrywide Financial founder Angelo Mozilo and two former executives with securities fraud. Mozilo, who is the former chief executive of financial services entity Countrywide along with David Sambol and Eric Sieracki, have been charged with fraud for misleading investors about the significant credit risk taken by the company.
Three Indians have pleaded guilty to criminal charges of conspiring to commit student visa and financial aid fraud through a for-profit school they ran and agreed to forfeit over USD eight million to federal authorities.
'In plain simple English, these practices amount to a looting of our country's future by some in the business community, in cahoots with some lenders,' says RBI Governor Dr Urjit R Patel.
In a bid to safeguard their firms against fraud, many multinational companies are contacting Certified Fraud Examiners for checking their accounts and financial transactions.
A new schedule has been added to report income from cryptocurrencies and other Virtual Digital Assets.
With the entire fraud amount becoming a non-performing asset, around 25 per cent of the bank's estimated net worth of Rs 40,000 crore could be affected.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The Supreme Court's decision to allow borrowers a chance to be heard before their accounts are flagged as fraudulent by lenders is expected to result in several cases being reopened where the borrower is aggrieved because of such classification, bankers said. Still, the reopening of cases would not be automatic. A borrower who is aggrieved by the 'fraud' classification will have to approach the bank and consequently, the bank will take the necessary steps so that the apex court's order is followed in letter and spirit, they said.
The ED carried out searches against two former auditor firms of IL&FS -- BSR and Associates and Deloitte Haskins and Sells -- on Wednesday in connection with its money-laundering probe into alleged financial irregularities at the infrastructure development and finance company, official sources said. The premises linked to the two auditors in Mumbai were searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they added. The action came a week after the Supreme Court set aside a Bombay High Court verdict that quashed an SFIO probe against the two companies, both former auditors of IL&FS Financial Services, paving the way for action against them under the Companies Act and allowing the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to take forward its enquiry against them.
Banks can collapse, markets can be rigged, investment instruments can become worthless overnight, auditors can fail to blow the whistle, board directors can be asleep, and regulators can be incompetent, notes T N Ninan.
The government has given sanction for prosecution against PNB executive director Sanjiv Sharan as part of the clean up exercise in the system.
PNB issued a formal appointment letter to Belgium-based consultancy firm BDO
She was the managing director and the CEO of PNB since August 14, 2015 before being appointed in Allahabad Bank on May 6, 2017.
Corporate Affairs Secretary Naved Masood said SFIO is finalising the report on Reebok.
Searches conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the anti-money laundering law rose by 86 times while arrests and attachment of assets jumped by around 25 times in the 10 years since 2014 compared to the preceding nine-year period, according to official data.
While PNB did not name the other lenders, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Axis Bank are said to have offered credit based on letters of undertaking (LOUs) issued by PNB. Foreign bank branches too are under investigation.
With the management of most State-owned banks hardly having time to concentrate on big-ticket business, growing the business of loan disbursals has been pushed down the priority order.
The investigation pertains to a case against Pranav Jewellers, a partnership firm based in Tiruchirapalli, whom the ED raided on November 20 and claimed to have seized "unexplained" cash of Rs 23.70 lakh and some gold jewellery.
'This year's detection of frauds and probable recovery will be mainly driven by several compliance measures put in place, and amendments made to the GST regime to plug revenue leakages particularly in new-edge sectors.'
Majority of respondents say reading about media reports of such frauds bothers them more than their personal experience.
According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani and the founder Elizabeth Holmes raised money by deceiving investors about the company's technology, business and financial performance, raising more than USD 700 million in years-long "massive fraud".
Ask rediffGURU and tax expert Mihir Tanna your income tax-related questions.
The arrest of ICICI Bank's former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a loan fraud case was "without application of mind and due regard to the law", amounting to an "abuse of power", the Bombay high court has said. A division bench of Justices Anuja Prabhudessai and N R Borkar had on February 6 held the Kochhars' arrest as illegal and confirmed a January 2023 interim order passed by another bench granting them bail. In the order made available on Monday, the court said the CBI has been unable to demonstrate the existence of circumstances or supportive material based on which the decision to arrest was taken.
Naveen Munjal of Hero Exports alone had given around Rs 50 crore.
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