World Bank debars several Indian firms for fraudulent & corrupt practices

Several Indian companies and a few individuals from India have been barred by the World Bank from its various projects across the globe, the multi-lateral lending agency said in its new report.

In its latest annual report on Wednesday, the World Bank said Olive Health Care and Jay Modi from India have been debarred from for their fraudulent and corrupt practices. They were working on a World Bank project in Bangladesh.

While Olive Health has been debarred for 10 years and six months, Modi has been debarred for seven years and six months, the report said.

In all 78 companies and individuals have been debarred by the World Bank. The inaugural report, the bank said, is the result of efforts by the Integrity Vice Presidency (INT), the Office of Suspension and Debarment (OSD) and the Sanctions Board to prepare a joint overview of the Bank Group Sanctions System and its activities over the past year.

India-based Angelique International Limited has been debarred by the World Bank for four years and six months for their fraudulent and corrupt practices. The company had a World Bank project in Ethiopia and Nepal.

Family Care from India too has been debarred by the World Bank for four years on similar grounds. They had projects in Argentina and Bangladesh.

For fraudulent practices, Madhucon Projects Ltd from India has been debarred by the World Bank for two years. It had World Bank projects in India. R KD Construction Pvt Ltd has been debarred for one year and six months for the same reason. It has projects in India.

Among other Indian companies debarred by the World Bank for less than a year are Tatve Global Environment Pvt Ltd, SMEC (India) Pvt Ltd, and Macleods Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

In addition to the 78 debarments, five firms were sanctioned with conditional non-debarment, which means they remain eligible to participate in World Bank-financed projects but will be debarred if they do not meet certain agreed-upon conditions.

Each of the sanctions related to a finding that the firm or individual engaged in one of the institution's five sanctionable practices fraud, corruption, collusion, coercion or obstruction while participating in a Bank Group-funded project, the bank said.

The institution also recognised 73 cross-debarments from other multilateral development banks.

In addition to evaluating allegations of fraud and corruption, INT works to prevent corruption in ongoing Bank Group projects. INT staff identified and worked to mitigate integrity risks in 390 projects, steps that made progress in safeguarding the equivalent of $2.2 billion in project commitments, it said.