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To tackle white collar crimes -- Police being given lessons in financial management

Dinesh Narayanan

MUMBAI, July 2

THAT the Reserve Bank of India found it necessary to educate policemen on the nuances of ``investments'' and ``balance sheets'' is perhaps symptomatic of the epidemic proportions financial crime has assumed.

Perhaps it came with liberalisation. Financial frauds and white collar crimes have always been there but the ``new greed'' that consumerism nourished perhaps gave them the ideal catalyst to ferment. Even small time ``players'' carried out polished ``bala nce sheet sleights.'' That possibly explains the ``NBFC menace'' of the mid-nineties.

About a year ago, the RBI started a programme, mainly to help cops tackle the ``NBFC menace.'' According to a senior RBI official, ``we found that quite often police officers are bewildered by the complexities of today's financing system, mainly because they do not know the basics of the system.''

When a problem crops up, such as a finance company crashing and depositors being left in the lurch, the people first rush to the nearest police station. In most cases, the officers, especially in semi-urban centres, find themselves clueless as to what to do.

Now, the RBI is conducting special sessions at various places for police officers to understand financial instruments, the relevant legislations and regulatory requirements. The apex bank has held such sessions in Pune, Nagpur, Goa, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Tamil Nadu.

``We are focussing on centres which have a high concentration of NBFCs. And many such financial set-ups are in places where there are a lot of retired people and senior citizens who are quite vulnerable,'' the RBI official said.

According to him, the response has been pretty good. On an average, about 25 to 30 officers turn up for such seminars. Most of them are interactive sessions which include case studies.

``The sessions are open to all regardless of position. Once a DGP and the district collector were present. At another such class, in Goa, some of the women secretarial staff too participated in the seminar because they thought it would help when preparin g case documents and other relevant material,'' he said.

Apart from educating law enforcers, the RBI is also holding seminars for chartered accountants, especially for those in smaller centres, in association with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. The regulator is encouraging them to take extra care while auditing and to take note of ``omissions and commissions'' in the books. And, also inform the RBI of them.

``We are also trying to create awareness among the public through advertisements in newspapers and television. Ultimately, they are the ones who invest their hard-earned money. You cannot do anything about greed. Sometimes even educated people fall prey to it, but we are trying to do our bit...,'' the official said.

Perhaps it is time ``business management'' (or mismanagement?) is included in the police training curriculum.