The changing dynamics of white-collar crimes in India

The report shows that over the past 10 years, CBI has prepared 6,533 corruption cases, of which 517 have come up in the past two years

White-collar crime is widespread not only in the developed world, but in emerging economies like India as well. According to a new report by EY, between 2004 and 2016, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office was asked to probe 469 cases, of which 184 companies were alone probed in 2015-16.

The report titled ‘The changing dynamics of white-collar crime in India’ shows that over the past 10 years, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has prepared 6,533 corruption cases, of which 517 have come up in the past two years.

Further, an estimated Rs 4,000 crore of trading is carried out on the BSE using fake or duplicate PAN cards. And, online fraud is on the rise with Maharashtra reporting 999 cases. India’s share in black money concealed across global tax havens is estimated to be $181 billion and the situation is grim. Recently, it was revealed that the card data of 3.2 million customers were stolen from a network of YES Bank ATMs managed by Hitachi Payment Services.

On its part, the government has launched several initiatives to tackle fraud, bribery, corruption and other white-collar crimes. Recent data suggest that some forms of crime might have moderated of late.

In 2015, India ranked 76th on Transparency International’s corruption perception index (CPI), up from 85th in 2014. This improvement in ranking mirrors the fall in corruption complaints received. According to the report, the number of corruption complaints received by the chief vigilance commissioner declined from 64,000 in 2014 to 29,838 in 2015. But, despite this improvement, India ranks lower on CPI (69th rank) than it did in 2000.

Perceptions over the extent of corruption in India also seem to have improved. In 2016, 58 per cent of survey respondents felt that bribery and corruption are ongoing challenges in India – down from 70 in 2012. The global average for 2016 is 39 per cent.  

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It is possible that recent measures such as the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act and the Income Declaration Scheme to tackle this might have made some impact.

The report points out that the government also entered into bilateral agreements with several tax havens for disclosure of funds held.

“The past two years have also witnessed several other regulations focusing on mitigating white-collar crimes such as fraud, money laundering, diversion of funds and boosting ethics and compliance,” it adds.