Harshad Mehta

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Harshad Mehta
Born Died Residence Nationality Ethnicity Citizenship Occupation Spouse(s) 29 July 1953 Paneli Moti, Gujarat, India 31 December 2001 (aged 48) Mumbai Mumbai, Maharastra, India Indian Gujarati Jain India Businessman, Stockbroker Jyoti Mehta

Harshad Shantilal Mehta (Hindi: ) was an Indian stockbroker, charged with numerous financial crimes that took place in 1992. Of the 27 criminal charges brought against him, he was only convicted of one, before his death at age 48 in 2001. It was alleged that Mehta engaged in a massive stock manipulation scheme financed by worthless bank receipts, which his firm brokered in "ready forward" transactions between banks. Mehta was convicted by the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court of India[1] for his part in a financial scandal valued at 50 billion (US$920 million) which took place on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). In reality he actually exposed the loopholes in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) transaction system and SEBI further introduced new rules to cover those loopholes. He was tried for 9 years, until he died in the late 2001.[2][3]

Contents

1 Early life 2 Career o 2.1 The 1992 security scam 3 Exposure, trial and conviction o 3.1 Allegations of payment of bribe to India's prime minister 4 Death 5 In popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Early life
Mehta was born on 29 July 1954[4], at Paneli Moti, Rajkot district, in a Gujarati Jain family. His early childhood was spent in Kandivali, Mumbai, where his father was a small-time businessman. Later, the family moved to Raipur, Chattisgarh, where Mehta studied in s.s kalibadi Higher Secondary School.

Career
Over a period of ten years, beginning in 1980, Mehta served in positions of increasing responsibility at a series of brokerage firms. By 1990, he had risen to a position of prominence in the Indian securities industry. He established his own firm, with the financial assistance of associates, when the BSE auctioned a broker's card. It was at this time that he began trading heavily in the shares of Associated Cement Company (ACC). The price of shares in the cement company eventually rose from Rs.200 to nearly 9000. Mehta justified trading in ACC shares by stating that the stock had been undervalued, and that the market had simply corrected when it revalued the company at a price equivalent to the cost of building a similar enterprise; the socalled "replacement cost theory".[5] In criminal indictments later brought by the authorities, it was alleged that Mehta and his associates then undertook a much broader scheme, which resulted in manipulating the rise in the Bombay Stock Exchange. The scheme was financed by supposedly collateralised bank receipts, which were in fact uncollateralised. The bank receipts were used in short-term bank-to-bank lending, known as "ready forward" transactions, which Mehta's firm brokered. By the second half of 1991 Mehta had earned the nickname of the Big Bull, because he was said to have started the bull run in the stock market.[5]

The 1992 security scam

On 23 April 1992, journalist Sucheta Dalal exposed Mehta's illegal methods in a column in The Times of India. Mehta was dipping illegally into the banking system to finance his buying.
"The crucial mechanism through which the scam was effected was the ready forward (RF) deal. The RF is in essence a secured short-term (typically 15-day) loan from one bank to another. Crudely put, the bank lends against government securities just as a pawnbroker lends against jewellery. The borrowing bank actually sells the securities to the lending bank and buys them back at the end of the period of the loan, typically at a slightly higher price. It was this ready forward deal that Mehta and his accomplices used with great success to channel money from the banking system." --Sucheta Dalal, The Times of India (April 23, 1992)[6]

A typical ready forward deal involved two banks brought together by a broker in lieu of a commission. The broker handles neither the cash nor the securities, though that wasnt the case in the lead-up to the scam. In this settlement process, deliveries of securities and payments were made through the broker. That is, the seller handed over the securities to the broker, who passed them to the buyer, while the buyer gave the cheque to the broker, who then made the payment to

the seller. In this settlement process, the buyer and the seller might not even know whom they had traded with, either being known only to the broker. This the brokers could manage primarily because by now they had become market makers and had started trading on their account. To keep up a semblance of legality, they pretended to be undertaking the transactions on behalf of a bank. Another instrument used was the Bank receipt (BR). In a ready forward deal, securities were not moved back and forth in actuality. Instead, the borrower, i.e., the seller of securities, gave the buyer of the securities a BR. As the authors write, a BR confirms the sale of securities. It acts as a receipt for the money received by the selling bank. Hence the name bank receipt. It promises to deliver the securities to the buyer. It also states that in the mean time, the seller holds the securities in trust of the buyer. Having figured out his scheme, Mehta needed banks which issued fake BRs (Not backed by any government securities). Two small and little known banks the Bank of Karad (BOK) and the Metropolitan Co-operative Bank (MCB) came in handy for this purpose. These banks were willing to issue BRs as and when required, for a fee, the authors point out. Once these fake BRs were issued, they were passed on to other banks and the banks in turn gave money to Mehta, assuming that they were lending against government securities when this was not really the case. This money was used to drive up the prices of stocks in the stock market. When time came to return the money, the shares were sold for a profit and the BR was retired. The money due to the bank was returned. This went on as long as the stock prices kept going up, and no one had a clue about Mehta's operations. Once the scam was exposed, though, a lot of banks were left holding BRs which did not have any value the banking system had been swindled of a whopping 40 billion (US$740 million). When the scam was revealed, the Chairman of the Bank committed suicide by jumping from the office roof.[7] He knew that he would be accused if people came to know about his involvement in issuing checks to Mehta. M J Pherwani of UTI also died in this scandal.[5]

Exposure, trial and conviction

See also: Trial Exploiting several loopholes in the banking system, Mehta and his associates siphoned off funds from inter-bank transactions and bought shares heavily at a premium across many segments, triggering a rise in the Sensex. When the scheme was exposed, banks started demanding their money back, causing the collapse. He was later charged with 72 criminal offences, and more than 600 civil action suits were filed against him.[5] He was arrested and banished from the stock market with investigators holding him responsible for causing a loss to various entities. Mehta and his brothers were arrested by the CBI on 9 November 1992 for allegedly misappropriating more than 2.8 million shares (2.8 million) of about 90 companies, including ACC and Hindalco, through forged share transfer forms. The total value of the shares was placed at 2.5 billion (US$46 million).

Mehta made a brief comeback as a stock market guru, giving tips on his own website as well as a weekly newspaper column. In September 1999, Bombay High Court convicted and sentenced him to five years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of 25000 (US$460).[8] On 14 January 2003, Supreme Court of India confirmed High Court's judgement. It was a 2:1 majority judgement. While Justice B.N. Agrawal and Justice Arijit Pasayat upheld his conviction, Justice M.B. Shah voted to acquit him.[1]

Allegations of payment of bribe to India's prime minister

Mehta again raised a furore in 1995 when he made a public announcement that he had paid 10 million (US$180,000) to the then Congress president and prime minister, Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao, as donation to the party, for getting him off the scandal case.[2][9]

Death
Mehta was under judicial custody in the Thane prison. Mehta complained of chest pain late at night and was admitted to the Thane civil Hospital. He died following a brief heart ailment, at the age of 47, in 31 December 2001. He is survived by his wife and one son.[10] Mehta died on with many litigation still pending against him. He had altogether 28 cases registered against him. The trial of all except one, are still continuing in various courts in the country. Market watchdog, Securities and Exchange Board of India, had banned him for life from stock market-related activities.[2][7]

In popular culture

The Mehta scandal was portrayed in a recent Hindi movie, Gafla. It was premiered in Times BFI 50th London Film Festival in 18 Oct..[11] Mehta scandal life is covered by Suchita Dalal and Debashish Basu in their book The Scam: From Harshad Mehta To Ketan Parekh.[12] Harshad Mehta's trial has been referred to in 2001 Bollywood movie Nayak.

See also

Bombay Stock Exchange Abdul Karim Telgi Ramalinga Raju Hasan Ali Khan List of scandals in India

References

1. ^ a b "SC upholds Harshad Mehta's conviction". Times of India. 14 January 2003. Retrieved 14 October 2012. 2. ^ a b c "Admires of Harshad Mehta". The Hindu Business Line. 3. ^ "Harshad Mehta's scam unfold". Retrieved Rediff.com. 4. ^ http://flame.org.in/knowledgecenter/scam.aspx 5. ^ a b c d "Harshad Mehta's Scam". Flame.org. Retrieved 2012-04-20. 6. ^ http://www.suchetadalal.com/?id=50775e5a-689d-fb73492e82e5b47b&base=sub_sections_content&f&t=Harshad+Mehta%3A+From+Pied+Pip er+of+the+markets+to+India%27s+best-known+scamster%7Cpublisher=Sucheta Dalal|accessdate=2012-04-20|title=Sucheta Dalal reveals Mehta's Scam}} 7. ^ a b "Chairman of Bank commit suicide". BullRider.in. Retrieved 2012-04-20. 8. ^ "Harshad Mehta sentenced to five years' RI". Rediff.com. 28 September 1999. Retrieved 14 October 2012. 9. ^ "Mehta's is alleged to bribed PM Rao". Outlook India. Retrieved 2012-04-20. 10. ^ "Harshad Mehta Cremated". Economic Times. 11. ^ "Movie based on Harshad Mehta released". NowRunning.com. Retrieved 2012-04-20. 12. ^ {ISBN 8188154024, ISBN 9788188154029}

External links

NY Times Article on Harshad Mehta Insight on Mehta's Lifestyle Mehta's Flat for Sale

Categories:

1953 births 2001 deaths Indian businesspeople Political scandals in India People from Raipur, Chhattisgarh Indian fraudsters Bombay Stock Exchange Stock brokers

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