Harshad Mehta | |
---|---|
Born |
Paneli Moti, Gujarat, India |
29 July 1954
Died | 31 December 2001 Mumbai |
(aged 47)
Residence | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
Nationality | Indian |
Citizenship | India |
Occupation | Businessman, |
Harshad Mehta was an Indian , well known for his wealth and for having been charged with numerous financial crimes that took place in 1992. Of the 27 criminal charges brought against him, he was only convicted of four, before his death at age 47 in 2001. It was alleged that Mehta engaged in a massive scheme financed by worthless bank receipts, which his firm brokered in "ready forward" transactions between banks. Mehta was convicted by the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court of India for his part in a financial scandal valued at ₹ 4999 Crores which took place on the . The scandal exposed the loopholes in the Indian banking system, transaction system and SEBI further introduced new rules to cover those loopholes. He was tried for 9 years, until he died in late 2001.
Harshad Shantilal Mehta was born on 29 July 1954, at Paneli Moti, Rajkot district, in a Gujarati Jain family. His early childhood was spent in Kandivali, Mumbai, where his father was a small-time businessman. Later, the family moved to Raipur's Modhapara, Chhattisgarh, where Mehta studied in Kalibadi Higher Secondary School. A cricket enthusiast, Mehta did not show any special promise in school and came to Bombay after his schooling for studies and to find work. Mehta completed his B.Com in 1976 from Lajpatrai college Mumbai and worked a number of odd jobs for the next eight years.
After graduation, Mehta tried his hand at various jobs, often related to sales, including selling hosiery, cement, and sorting diamonds. Mehta started his career as a sales person in the Mumbai office of New India Assurance Company Limited (NIACL). During this time, he got interested in the share market and after a few years, resigned and joined a brokerage firm. In the early 1980s, he moved to a lower level clerical job at the brokerage firm B.Ambalal & Sons where he worked a jobber for the broker P.D. Shukla. Over a period of ten years, beginning 1980, he served in positions of increasing responsibility at a series of brokerage firms. By 1990, he had risen to a position of prominence in the Indian securities industry, with the media (including popular magazines such as Business Today) touting him as "The Amitabh Bachchan of the Stock market".