One of India’s most significant instances of economic failure is the Sahara Financial Scam. With a smile on his face and a Rolex on his wrist, Sahara boss Subrata Roy plundered the weak and defenceless without giving it a second thought.
The Netflix programme Bad Boy Billionaires about the Sahara Scam was released following legal issues. The Subrata Roy episode showed how irrational and power-hungry some extremely wealthy people can be.
Some of the documentary’s more startling revelations include the following:
1. Subrata Roy established a cult in which people referred to him as their saviour.
By implementing various Sahara programmes that were initially profitable for the impoverished in rural areas, Subrata Roy was able to win their devotion. Because of this, he became the deity of the underprivileged, and many people blindly followed him as their guru.
He did this in order to protect himself in the future and avoid facing charges by blaming others.
2. When Subrata passed by, his employees would say “Sahara Pranaam”
He was known to them as Saharashri, and they gave him a particular salutation by placing their hands on their chests.
3. He once hosted an incredible sizeable gathering with 1.1 million workers from across the nation.
They performed additional actions that are typically reserved for religious meetings, such as singing the national song.
4. During the investigation, he cunningly supplied SEBI 5 crore documents, most of which were fraudulent.
To make things difficult for SEBI, the documents were delivered in 127 trucks at midnight. He used this ruse to delay the probe because it would take SEBI months to review the records.
5. He gave Rajiv Bajaj, the vice president of Sahara, the instruction to dye his hair the same shade of black as his.
6. In a large combined ceremony, he married off 101 women from lower-class families to improve his reputation.
The fraudster wished for people to regard him as a trustworthy family man. He aimed to gain a reputation as a reliable individual who would protect your money. This was only another calculated action.
7. The Supreme Court imposed on Sahara the biggest monetary fine ever in Indian history.
The biggest fine ever levied against an Indian citizen rounded off to $3.6 billion.
8. The task of tracking down and refunding the roughly 30 million investors in Sahara’s two publicly traded businesses falls to the financial regulator SEBI.
However, millions of others from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who invested in various Sahara schemes, which are not even covered by the SC judgement, will never see their money back.
9. At the time, the wedding of Subrata’s two sons in 2004 was the most extravagant and expensive wedding ever in India.
The PM, several CMs, and A-list movie stars were among the 10,000 guests at the $60 million weddings.
All images have been sourced from Netflix or else mentioned.
