For many Indian tycoons, 2019 turned woeful as lenders -- empowered by the nation’s recent bankruptcy law and desperate to clean up soured debt from their books -- started seizing assets of delinquent firms or dragged them into insolvency.
Indian banks wrote off a record $39 billion of loans in the 18 months through September in a bid to repair their balance sheets as they battled the world’s worst bad debt pile. Making matters worse, a shadow banking crisis led to a funding squeeze, crushing debt-laden businesses that were critically dependent on rollover financing.
“Life has come a full circle for tycoons that had enjoyed debt-fueled growth,” said Nirmal Gangwal, founder of distress and debt restructuring advisory firm Brescon & Allied Partners LLP. “Many firms collapsed like a house of cards. The downfall was rather unprecedented.”
The government has also been cracking down on economic crime to assuage public anger over absconding businessmen. It’s even barred some from traveling overseas if they were deemed a flight risk.
Here are some of the country’s biggest and most-storied businessmen who saw their fortunes fade. Spokespersons for none of these tycoons, except Essar, immediately replied to emails and text messages seeking comments.
Anil Ambani
The chairman of Reliance Group, which makes movies to metro lines, had a close shave with jail time in March before his elder brother and Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, bailed him out at the last minute. The woes of the ex-billionaire came to the fore when India’s top court asked him to pay Ericsson AB’s India unit about $77 million of past dues or go to jail since Anil Ambani, 60, had given a personal guarantee. His telecom carrier slipped into insolvency this year, while unprofitable Reliance Naval & Engineering Ltd. faced a cash crunch. Reliance Capital Ltd. is selling assets to pare debt. Ambani is also fending off Chinese lenders in a London court.
Malvinder & Shivinder Singh
Karma caught up with ex-billionaires and brothers Malvinder Singh, 47, and Shivinder Singh, 44, and how. Scions of a prominent business family, they once helmed India’s top drug maker and second-largest hospital chain. In October, the two were arrested on charges of fraudulently diverting nearly $337 million from a lender they controlled. India’s market regulator found in 2018 that the brothers had defrauded their hospital company of about $56 million. The collapse of the $2 billion empire turned brother against brother, prompting their mother to broker a peace deal that was short-lived. In February, Malvinder accused Shivinder and their spiritual guru of fraud.
Shashikant & Ravikant Ruia
After a hard-fought battle to keep their flagship steel mill, the first-generation entrepreneurs finally saw the bankrupt Essar Steel India Ltd. pass on to ArcelorMittal last month. The $5.9 billion takeover was almost two years in the making with multiple legal wrangles. The group, controlled by Shashikant Ruia, 76, and Ravikant Ruia, 70, were also reprimanded by a U.K. judge in March this year for concealing documents. Started in 1969 as a construction firm, Essar Group diversified, investing about $18 billion between 2008 and 2012, and piled on debt. In 2017, the group had sold another prized asset, Essar Oil.
Selling an asset to pare a liability shouldn’t be seen as a “lost asset,” an Essar spokesman said, adding that the group remains a diversified conglomerate.
VG Siddhartha
Before jumping off a bridge into a river in July in an apparent suicide, the founder of India’s biggest coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day had penned a letter that spoke of pressure from lenders, a private equity firm and harassment by tax officials. He had spent much of the last two years pledging ever more of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd. shares to refinance loans for ever shorter periods, at ever higher interest rates. “I would like to say I gave it my all,” V.G. Siddhartha, 60, wrote in the letter. “I fought for a long time but today I gave up.”
Naresh Goyal
The former ticketing agent who built India’s largest airline by value, stepped down as chairman of Jet Airways India Ltd. in March, caving in to pressure from banks who took over the company. Cut-throat price wars and surging costs pushed Jet deeper into loss. The airline stopped flying in April and went into bankruptcy two months later as lenders failed to find a buyer. In July, an Indian court barred Naresh Goyal from flying overseas after the government said it was investigating an alleged $2.6 billion fraud involving Jet Airways.
Rana Kapoor
The founder of Yes Bank Ltd., which became India’s fourth-largest non-state lender, tweeted in September 2018 that his shares were invaluable and requested his children never to sell them upon inheritance. But trouble was brewing. The nation’s banking regulator, which found the lender had repeatedly under-reported its bad loans, refused to extend his tenure as chief executive officer. This forced Rana Kapoor, 62, to step down by end-January. Kapoor, who has pledged some of his Yes Bank shares in July, sold almost his entire stake in the lender by October.
Subhash Chandra
The rice trader-turned-media mogul, 69, who brought cable television into Indian homes in the early 1990s with his ZEE TV, resigned as chairman of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. in November and lost control of his crown jewel. Subhash Chandra has been selling stake in Zee Entertainment in the past few months to repay group’s debt.
Gautam Thapar
A default by Gautam Thapar, founder of the paper mill-to-power transmission Avantha Group, on pledged shares made Yes Bank Ltd. the biggest shareholder in CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd. In August, the firm was hit by an accounting scandal forcing the board to remove Thapar, 59, from the chairman’s post. A month later, the market regulator ordered a forensic audit of the firm and barred Thapar from accessing securities market.
Mangalore, Oct 18: To combat cyber crime and tackle cases of online financial fraud, a cyber crime police station was recently sanctioned by the government to the Western Range of Karnataka State Police.
Comments
i had warned several times still he is disturbing my sister. please take into consideration
Hi
Myself Arun my number 9663448377..somebody hacking my mobile which disturbs my work..pls let us know is yher any possibility to find out who is doing this and take legal action .
Sir, I have recived several call from the number 8670534404 to my house cell number 9972464233 on 30 Nov 2019 (today) around 1.31PM saying that he is SYNDICATE BANK Manager, and asked to give credit card number urgently for renewal. but we dont have credit card, while we recalled him he not clearly answering only asking card number. so please find them and take action so that we can avoid others to become a victim of like this fraud.
My Alternate Contact Number for further communication is 8281157516.
Thanks Regards Muhammad Ali
I have cheated by online .in Instagram I saw one add that cheap rates for mble so I asked and he told that yea it's is original and u can trust me .after smetyms I believe him .he told to transfer money I believed him and transfer 11000 after rcving the amount he blocked me .he cheated lot of people like me so plzzz enquire about it plzz his nmbr is 9953447686 track his nmbr and arrest him as soon as possible sirr
Good morning sir,
Yesterday i received a call from 7632832300 saying that he is bank manager sbi . shanthi nagar bengaluru; and my atm card is blocked etc... later my husband called the same no. and that person used vulgar abusive language. they are frauds. please take necesssory action.
thanking you
sundari
Sir,
I have a complaint. today night someone put a number in my colleague Car. 8296262698 this is the number. In front of me its happen. i am helpless...
I had applied for a job online in quikr.com for katak mahindra bank at manglore. Later i got a call from a lady called akritisingh. She sent me a mail id [email protected] and told me to send my id proof and resume. The next day she called me and said that i have sent u the confirmation letter on your mail id. Please fill it and send. It told that i had to pay 1850 to ac no 20025631649 IFSC code FINO0001044 which was refundable. After i paid next day i got a call from kotak(as the person mentioned) he took the interview on phone. Later he said you are slected but you should do the documentation under world verification organization which will cost around 9000. Later i got a call from akritisingh she told me to pay 8000+ to ac no 1483104000077543 IFSC code IBKL0001483 i said i dont have money. So she said atleast half amount i should pay and remaining i can pay later. I said no. Please pay back 1850 which u told is refundable. She said ok ill pay back on Saturday but she dint. But today she isn't picking up the call.. I have all her call records. Her phone number is 9899452461. This took place on 7/6/2019 friday.
Respected sir, on 6th may 2019 from my account total amout
of rupees 49454 is debited. I feel somebody hacked my debit card.please help me.
Am wait8 for your reply. My contact num 7899494413
Do you know any cyber crime lawyers?Actually they have to initiate a strict disciplinary action against 2 people, one of whom is Soumalya Joardar of Karimpur,Nadia and the other one is Arijit Ganguly and you have to track down where he lives from your secret sources,Both of them are from Kolkata
Do you know any cyber crime lawyers?Actually they have to initiate a strict disciplinary action against 2 people, one of whom is Soumalya Joardar of Karimpur,Nadia and the other one is Arijit Ganguly and you have to track down where he lives from your secret sources,Both of them are from Kolkata
Sir somebody steal my mobile from KMC jyothi circle on 31 oct 2018.
Lenova A7010 Black
please help me sir
Ok
Hi, did you get any reply or help from the cyber department? My whatsapp too is hacked and my contacts keep showing online even when they are not. It appears online as soon as I or my other contacts come online and will go offline as soon as I or other contacts go offline.
Please help me out.
I received call from 09582354543 telling the call is lic , india to collect un claimed loyalty fund on lic policies. For which I need to pay in cheque a five figures amount .
I request the concerned authority to nab the culprits doing this kind of crime.
Today in my friends what's up status my old freind watsup photo has put but he is telling he is not put the status.i asked tat girl she also not send photo to him someone is using my watsup sometimes watsup name get deleted automatically so please help me
+67572211889 i got call from this no
Dear sir,
There are calls coming from the following nos. many times in a day to so many people in mangalore.
Please check these nos. and block them.
Nos.are- +67572211889; +67572211794
When checked online it shows papua new guinea
They seem like fraud people.
Kindly check and block these nos. at the earliest.
Best regards
Hlo sir I got one msg that I wined the price of rupees 750000 in U.K.. after one person called me, and he send his ID and 2 certificate, and after they said that I should pay a amount of rupees 29800 to Cash Exchange, now they are saying that I should pay a amount of rupees 66300... I just transfer the amount of rupees 29800 in their account I don't knw it's fake.. Now I know it... Plzzz help me sir.. I send u his number and which he send to me.. Even now he is in contact.. He is saying that he is foreign exchange officer... Their phone no that person who called me: 9205541391 Plzz help me sir.. Am a student I dnt hv any choice Sir
my phone has stolen
Shit..
My mobile no and whatsap not completely hacked in mangalore. Now +919483012450
+919483733467
Sir.. Please look into this serious matter. The same hacking.. Spying through computers.. And sending laser rays on private parts by these people who reside at nandigudda.. Happy bappal 1st cross. Kindly take stern action that is going on for 5months.
Sir.
My mobile no is hacked. No 9483012450. My emails and whatsap too is hacked. By some known people.
All my family s mobile no s are hacked and through whatsap and GPS mode they spy into all the families. Exact voices are to be heard. Spying our nudity whole day and night. Laser beam rays are used on us whole day. Can anyone please help. I am badly in need of help.
My sisters mobile too hacked her no is 9765002860.
One person is making scam to asking money. so I payed the amount of 1,45 000. please give that amount back sir .I don't no other way what to do sir plz help me sir
Recently my email accounts were hacked. t
The hacker has changed all the details in my profile and so I can not, in any way get access to my mails accounts. From my hacked mail account, they also sent a massage to the bank in which I am having account asking to transfer money to thier accounts.
Fortunately the dutiful and alert bank manager got doubt about this dubious mail and informed me. So was saved from financual loss.
I want to lodge a comolaint against this crime. I am clue less. can anybody help me in this regard ?
Sir. A nurse working in kmc had cheated me
An amount of 10000 I hav her pictures and contact number
9400465252 this is my number
Waiting for your reply
Yours faithfully yadu
respected sir,
Iam getting false messages to my mobile number from last one year, i tried to call but his mobile is switched off, because of this message
my family is in trouble, Please help my family to find this fraud guy who is trying to destroy my family.
hi 966577542819 this number sombody using in manglore area in whatsapp . idknow please check me ......................
Menika cerina ..
Fack account in facebook
Sir,
We are doing a campaign on STALKING . so we want to know more about cyber stalking. more than 80% of the people in India are victims of stalking..The above mentioned cases are a kind of stalking. But still people are not aware of stalking. I want to know whether will get any help from your side ..
Please do consider my request
I Need Mangalore Cyber Crime Police Station Number
I have been duped through fake ATM transaction by one Mr.sangeeth singhania..mobile no.8750437692. Got calls from this mobile . He messaged me four times regarding bonus points on my ATM and collected details about my ATM and duped me of Rs. 5000/ from my account. He was posing as SBI employee and even gave I'd no.
How can you help me in this regard,please.
A by details you need I will be ready to provide.
Please.....
My mail ID [email protected] is using by someone.sending message to others from this mail.please do the needful
Dear sir
From my above said account my address book which mail IDs are getting mail I am sick I need money etc. Including foreign mails also getting such messages.I Know it is a fraud work and for public interest I am raising this complain. e mail ID [email protected]. Please do needful
Received fraud call from ph.1203330500, and land line number 08468842309 name as told is \ vikas guptha\" called and asked for customer policy numbers and phone numbers.
It is a fraud call .plz look into it..
My number is 9945904363"
My mobile this member have 7753926268 no give mobile Bihar raxaul pari lenovo6000 plus imei 868627020865060
My mobile lenovo6000 plus this people 7753926268 Bihar raxaul I try but no give mobile so you help sir
Sir lost my lenovo6000 plus imei 868627020865060
868627020865078 please help sir surathkal police complain 4 Feb
My contact no 9686364610
sir lost my mobile lenovo6000 plus 3feb mrpl jbf site i complained surathkal police station 4feb so please help sir
Imei 868627020865060
868627020865078
My contact no 9686364610
Thanks sir
Sir lost my mobile lenovo6000 plus mrpl jbf site 3feb 4feb complain surathkal police station so pls hep sir
Imei 868627020865060
868627020865078
My contact no 9686364610
Thanks sir
Sir I lost lenovo6000plus Mobile imei 868627020865060&868627020865078 i complained surathkal police station
Feb 3 lost my mobile so pls help sir my contact no 9686364610
Respected sir i am mohammed aslam, in mangalore, i am poor man ,i took 10000 rupees from mohanraj kotekar(mobil no 9845228956) 8 years back (15% / month interest), , i will pay him more than 14000, now he is disturbing me and sending rowdys (lathish 9901931517) to whack me they touture me and they give JEEVA BEDARIKE, now i am in full loss and i have no money, if i tell them about complaining police, they told whole police department is in their hands, dear sir i kindly request u please save me and my family, ,please help sir, i will never forget you , thanking you
yours faith fully.
MOHAMMED ASLAM
9591328590 MANGALORE
I lost my mobile phone- Moto G 13000 rupees at Suratkal Market on 24/01/2016 with Railway CUG number.Same day I registered police complaint at suratkal police station.My mobile number is 8762267659
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