Devas Goes To The US

Strange news of the day:  Devas Multimedia lobbying with the US lawmakers.  

Devas hired US lobbyist to manage ISRO deal

Devas Multimedia, whose satellite communications contract with the Indian government-owned Antrix was scrapped after a controversy, has been lobbying here to push forward its case before the US President and other lawmakers and has paid USD 140,000 so far for the same.

As per the disclosure reports filed with the US Senate, lobbyist firm Hogan Lovells US LLP began lobbying on behalf of Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia before the American lawmakers in June 2011.

Hogan Lovells said in its latest quarterly disclosure report that it was paid USD 60,000 during the fourth quarter of 2011 (October-December period) for lobbying on behalf of Devas.

Prior to this, Hogan Lovells had earned USD 60,000 in the third quarter and another USD 20,000 in the second quarter of 2011 as lobbying-related income from Devas, its disclosure filings with the US Senate showed.

Hogan Lovells has been registered as a lobbyist of Devas Multimedia in the US since June 6, 2011.

The Kingfisher Scam?

I wrote about public sector banks shoveling money to the telecom operators in this post:  The 3G Scam?.  Now we read this:  Kingfisher Airlines is NPA for us, says SBI chief.

New Delhi, Jan. 5:  

The State Bank of India said Mr Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines has turned a non-performing asset (NPA).

“Kingfisher is an NPA for us. They are in default,” Mr Pratip Chaudhuri, SBI Chairman, told reporters here on Thursday.

SBI is the lead bank in the consortium that has funded this private airline. The country's largest commercial bank has an exposure of Rs 1,458 crore to Kingfisher Airlines, which is in a weak financial position and struggling to service its loans.

The other banks with significant exposure to Kingfisher Airlines are IDBI Bank at Rs 727 crore, Punjab National Bank (Rs 710 crore), Bank of India (Rs 575 crore) and Bank of Baroda (Rs 537 crore).

Just add up those numbers:  Rs 4000 crores has been given by our public sector banks to one private company which has blown it away.  The biggest bank has already declared its loan as an NPA.  Is this any different from a scam?

When will RBI make it mandatory for banks to reveal the full details of their NPAs and who owes them the money?

Auditing As Performance Art

The shenanigans of auditing firms

Jagathi Publications, whose promoter is Jagan Mohan Reddy of YSR Congress, was valued at Rs 196 crore by a Chennai-based auditing firm Jagadeesan and Co, despite an accumulated loss of Rs 319 crore staring in one's face. 

Not happy with this valuation, Jagathi Publications sought the services of the formidable Ivy League accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India (P) Ltd, which first put a value of Rs 2,500 crore on the business, based on its self-generated business plans for the next five years, and later on inflated it further to a staggering Rs 3,500 crore. 

Nice job folks.

Deloitte Does A PwC On Jagan's Media Empire

That is the correct headline for this story: Deloitte does a Satyam with Jagan's media empire.  

Deloitte manipulated the valuation of Jagati Publications up to Rs 3,500 crore instead of an actual valuation of Rs 2,500 crore and even predated the valuation to enable Jagan’s company sell equity stakes at high premiums of over Rs 350 per scrip. P N Sudarshan, senior director of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited, on Wednesday made a startling confession to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that Jagan’s clout and political pressure drove the company to compromise on credibility and concede to their demands.

"Startling confession" indeed.

Where Did It Go?

One more investment firm in trouble, another hole in 'customer accounts'.   Link.