Page 5 - Scams

Coal sector saw scams in past, transparent system now in place: Joshi

There were massive scams in the country's coal sector in the past but now such a robust and transparent system has been established that even the coal minister cannot allocate one kg of coal to anyone in a discretionary manner, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said Wednesday. Replying to a question related to his ministry in the Lok Sabha, the Union coal minister said the country is in the process of producing one billion tonnes of coal, fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. "Now we have a very robust and transparent system. I can't even give a single kilogram of coal in a discretionary manner. I can't give a coal block in a discretionary manner. We all know how coal blocks were allocated in the past. There were massive scams," Joshi said. H said commercial coal mining has started in the country and it will bring efficiency and competition in coal production, attract investment and help create more jobs in the sector.

CBI to probe multi-crore scam by three cooperative banks in Karnataka: CM

The Central Bureau of Investigation will probe into the financial irregularities that took place in three cooperative banks in Karnataka, the state government said on Saturday. In a post on 'X', Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said: "It has been approved to hand over the scams of Guru Raghavendra Cooperative Bank, Vasishtha Bank and Guru Sovereign Bank to the CBI." Thousands of depositors had invested their lifetime savings in the bank, keeping their dreams like marriage of children, buying their own house as a basis for their retirement life. All of them are clueless about their future life due to bankers' fraud, the chief minister said. "Even when I was the Leader of the Opposition earlier, I was vocal inside and outside the House and participated in protests to get justice for the defrauded depositors. Even then, it was our insistence that this case should be investigated by CBI," he stated. "I have seen the frustration and suffering from those who have lost their deposit money. For

Bengal recruitment 'scam': ED summons TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on Nov 9

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee to appear before it here on November 9 in connection with the alleged school jobs scam, a TMC leader said on Wednesday. Banerjee will appear before the ED on Thursday, West Bengal Women and Child Welfare Minister and TMC spokesperson Shashi Panja said, alleging that the party national general secretary is a victim of "vendetta politics". She also alleged that the BJP does such vendetta politics to "harass" leaders ahead of crucial election early next year. State BJP spokesperson Shamik Lahiri said the party does not believe in vendetta politics. He stated that summoning by central agencies is happening under the supervision of the court, and if the TMC has any problem, it can approach the court. The ED had earlier summoned Banerjee to appear before it on October 9, after he skipped the October 3 summons to participate in a TMC protest rally in New Delhi, demanding immediate release of central fund

Money scams: Deepfakes, AI will drive $10 trn in financial fraud, crime

The proliferation of scam tech has alarmed regulators, police and people at the highest levels of the financial industry. Artificial intelligence in particular is being used to "turbocharge" fraud

Finance ministry cautions people against 'matrimonial dating scam'

The Ministry of Finance said that customs will never call or send a text message asking people to pay customs duty through a personal bank account

Chhattisgarh 'liquor scam' generated Rs 2,161 cr corruption money: ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that Rs 2,161 crore of corruption money was generated in the alleged "liquor scam" that began in 2019 in Chhattisgarh with the syndicate comprising senior bureaucrats of state, politicians, their associates and officials of the Excise Department. In its prosecution complaint filed on Tuesday before a special court here in a money laundering case linked to alleged liquor scam in the state, the central agency said this Rs 2,161 crore amount should have gone to the state exchequer. It named Anwar Dhebar, brother of Congress leader and Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, Managing Director of Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL) Arunpati Tripathi, liquor businessman Trilok Singh Dhillon, hotelier Nitesh Purohit and Arvind Singh as accused. The 'prosecution complaint' along with relied upon documents, in 13,000 pages, was filed in the court under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), said ED's counsel Saurabh .

How better cyber sense, zero trust can help overcome the new 'CEO scam'

According to the recent PwC report, CEOs of Indian companies are increasing cyber investments, adjusting supply chains, and changing their physical footprint in response to geopolitical conflict

Investigate PM CARES Fund: Uddhav amid ED action in Covid facility 'scam'

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday hit back at Enforcement Directorate action against some persons close to his party in an alleged jumbo COVID facility scam by seeking a probe into the PM CARES Fund. He also sought probe into the functioning of civic bodies of Nagpur, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune, as well as governments in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, all of which were or are led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, and Thane, which was controlled by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund was set up in 2020 as a public charitable trust with the aim of having a dedicated national fund to deal with distress related primarily to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Prime Minister is the chairperson and members include Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister. Addressing party workers, Thackeray dared the government to probe the working of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation during the pandemic, adding

Promoting scams as funny bot will lead to suspension, says Twitter's Musk

Twitter-owner Elon Musk on Sunday said that the promotion of scams as funny/helpful bot will lead to suspension

Re-examining the Bitcoin scam case unveiled in 2021: Karnataka Minister

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Wednesday said he was re-examining the multi-crore Bitcoin scam case, which had surfaced during the previous BJP regime in 2021. The Congress then in Opposition had accused the Basavaraj Bommai government of trying to cover it up as it "involved big names". "We (Congress) are in the government now, we are opening things. I'm re-examining the Bitcoin case, we are doing it. It's not even a month since we came to power..." Parameshwara told reporters in response to a question. The prime suspect, Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki , was accused of hacking the state government's e-procurement site and siphoning over Rs 11.5 crore. There were also charges of cryptocurrency theft, drug peddling and cyber fraud relating to the case. Regarding the Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) recruitment scam, the Home Minister said investigation is on in this case and the matter is also in the court. The government will do everything possible to get justice to the ...

Consumers lost $330 million to SMS scams in US in 2022, says report

Consumers lost a whopping $330 million to SMS scams in the US in 2022, more than double the losses reported in 2021 and nearly five times what people reported in 2019, a new report has shown

CM Shivraj's scams list is longer than PM Modi's abuses: Priyanka Gandhi

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh's 'scams list is longer than Prime Minister Narendra Modi's abuses', said Congress national General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur on Monday

Pan-India online cheating gang busted, dubious loan app scam exposed

With arrest of six persons, the Police has busted a gang of online cheats who had duped over 1,900 people on pretext of loans through app 'Cash Advance', a senior official said on Monday

Planning of Bengal school recruitment scam done at WBBPE office: ED

The basic planning of the multi-crore school recruitment case was conducted at the office of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE)

Delhi excise scam case: Accused Sharath Reddy turns second approver

A Delhi court on Thursday allowed Sharath Chandra Reddy of Aurbindo Group, an accused in the Delhi excise policy scam case, to turn an approver in case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)

Banking fraud cases grow to 13,530 in FY23, amount halved to Rs 30,252 cr

The number of frauds in the banking sector went up to 13,530 in 2022-23 year-on-year, but the amount involved nearly halved at Rs 30,252 crore, showed a Reserve Bank data released on Tuesday. Frauds occurred predominantly in the category of digital payments (card/internet), in terms of number, said Reserve Bank's Annual Report 2022-23. However, in terms of value, frauds have been reported primarily in the loan portfolio (advances category). A total of 9,097 frauds had taken place in 2021-22 involving Rs 59,819 crore. In 2020-21, the number of frauds was 7,338 and amount involved was Rs 1,32,389 crore. "An assessment of bank group-wise fraud cases over the last three years indicates that while private sector banks reported maximum number of frauds, public sector banks continued to contribute maximum to the fraud amount during 2022-23," the report said. Data are in respect of frauds of Rs 1 lakh and above reported during the three years. The report said there was a 55 per cent decl

50% of Indian firms victims of spear phishing in last 12 months, shows data

India has the highest number of suspicious emails per day, as per Barracuda Networks' 2023 Spear-phishing Trends report

The UK a tax haven?

Is the UK providing refuge to India's absconding financial scamsters?

Significant percentage of Indians fall victim to online travel scams: Rpt

With the rise in tourism in the country post Covid, the sector is also witnessing an increase in online travel scams as a significant percentage of travellers have been duped while trying book holidays to save money, a report said on Sunday. About 51 per cent of Indian respondents have fallen victim to online scams while trying to save money when booking travel, according to the 'Safer Holidays' Travel report by McAfee Corp. The report also revealed that 77 per cent of those who had money stolen have lost up to USD 1,000 (Rs 83,000) before their trip has even begun. The Safer Holidays Travel report is based on a survey among 7,000 people across seven countries, including 1,010 from India. The report further revealed that 66 per cent of all Indian vacationers said they will travel domestically this year and 42 per cent will do so internationally. In today's economic environment, Indian adults are more likely to seek out a bargain deal online (54 per cent), move quickly to snap up a

School jobs scam: CBI visits Bengal board of secondary education office

As part of the ongoing court-monitored investigations into the irregularities in secondary school job recruitments by central agencies, CBI on Sunday visited the headquarters of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE). A senior WBBSE told PTI that a CBI officer visited Nivedita Bhavan, the headquarters of the board, at Salt Lake township in the afternoon and went through some documents. "Our staff extended all cooperation to them. It was not that a CBI team raided our office. One CBI officer came, apparently as part of the ongoing probe, and went through some papers after unlocking a few rooms. He then left," the official said. He said WBBSE stood for transparency in the system. "Investigations are continuing and if there has been any irregularity in the past, the board will do whatever is asked by agencies to correct them. We have nothing else to comment on this," he said. Several people were arrested by CBI and ED in connection with alleged irregularities in the recruit