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
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 wasn’t 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$630 million). When the scam was revealed, the Chairman of the Vijaya Bank committed suicide by jumping from the office roof. 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 was also linked to Mehta.
Exposure, trial and conviction
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 BSE 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.
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 Rs 2.5 billion (US$40 million).
Mehta made a brief comeback as a stock market guru, giving tips on his own website as well as a weekly newspaper column. However, in September 1999, Bombay High Court convicted and sentenced him to five years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25000 (US$400). 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.
Allegations of payment of bribe to India’s prime minister
Mehta again raised a furore on 16 June 1993 when he made a public announcement that he had paid Rupees 1 Crore 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.
Death
Mehta was under Criminal 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, on 31 December 2001. He is survived by his wife and one son. He died with many litigations 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.
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