A London-based startup builder.ai, founded by an Indian named Sachin Dev Duggal, recently filed for bankruptcy after its ‘neural network’ was discovered to be 700 Indians coding in India. The company promoted its "code-building AI" to be as easy as "ordering pizza". It was backed by nearly half a billion dollar investment by top tech investors including Microsoft. The company was valued at $1.5 billion. This is the latest among a series of global scams originating in India.
In recent years, India has emerged as a major hub for global scams. The US government has alleged in court documents that a large enterprise originating from India was involved in stealing nearly $1.5 billion from elderly Americans. Recently, two Indian nationals, Pranay Mamindi and Kishan Patel, were found guilty of participating in a money laundering conspiracy, concealing the source of the money, and using the illegally gained money to further promote a criminal enterprise. Six other defendants from India also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
These global scams appear to have started amid widespread unemployment in India. Many of the scammers previously worked in call centers where they learned to use computers and telecommunications networks to reach out and talk to Americans. In 2022, U.S. citizens fell victim to a massive loss of over $10 billion from phishing calls orchestrated by illegal Indian call centers, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Indian-Americans, too, have been found guilty in a number of high-profile scams. A federal jury convicted former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, an Indian-American entrepreneur, on all 12 counts of fraud in 2022. Balwani was born in 1965 in Pakistan to a Sindhi Hindu family. His one-time girlfriend and partner Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, was convicted on similar charges earlier that year. Both face up to 20 years in prison.
Last year, a federal judge sentenced former Outcome Health CEO Rishi Shah, an Indian-American, to 7½ years in prison for a massive fraud scheme that prosecutors say enabled a “jet-set lifestyle” featuring private aircraft, yachts and a tony Chicago home.
In 2020, Dr. John Nath Kapoor, Indian-American CEO of Insys Therapeutics, was found guilty of conspiring to recklessly and illegally boost profits from the opioid painkiller Subsys, a fentanyl spray designed to be absorbed under the tongue, according to multiple media reports.
Rajat Gupta, an Indian-American former global head of McKinsey & Company, was convicted of insider trading in 2012. He was charged with passing on confidential business information about Goldman Sachs to hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam. Gupta was found guilty on multiple counts of conspiracy and securities fraud and served a two-year prison sentence.
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| India Ranks Number One For Misinformation and Disinformation |
Beyond the hub of scams and frauds, it seems that India has earned a reputation as the epicenter of misinformation and disinformation. According to experts surveyed for the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risk Report, India was ranked highest for the risk of misinformation and disinformation. This was on full display during the recent conflict with Pakistan.
After the recent Pahalgam militant attack in Kashmir, the Indian government immediately blamed it on Pakistan without any investigation or evidence. More than a month later, the perpetrators have neither been clearly identified nor apprehended. And yet, the government of Prime Minister Modi proceeded with air strikes inside Pakistan. Pakistan retaliated and shot down several Indian fighter jets, including its most advanced French Rafales. The conflict began to quickly escalate with strikes and counter-strikes, with the world fearing a nuclear exchange. This prompted the United States and several other countries to intervene and force a ceasefire in less than 4 days of armed conflict.
During this short 4-day period, the Indian mainstream media was filled with lies. Here's how the Washington Post reported this: "Times Now Navbharat reported that Indian forces had entered Pakistan; TV9 Bharatvarsh told viewers that Pakistan’s prime minister had surrendered; Bharat Samachar said he was hiding in a bunker. All of them, along with some of the country’s largest channels — including Zee News, ABP News and NDTV — repeatedly proclaimed that major Pakistani cities had been destroyed".
It is unfortunate but true: Fraud and falsehood have become endemic in the Indian society. Part of the blame falls squarely on the ruling BJP party which promotes falsehoods. In 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-hand man and home minister Amit Shah told his party's volunteers commonly known as Modi Bhakts: "We can keep making messages go viral, whether they are real or fake, sweet or sour". "Keep making messages go viral. We have already made a WhatsApp group with 32 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh; every morning they are sent a message at 8 am", Shah added, according to a report in Dainik Bhaskar, an Indian Hindi-language daily newspaper.
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
South Asia Investor Review
Indian-American COVID19 Researchers Face Fraud Charges
Indian-American Operator Charged With Fraud By US Federal Prosecutors
Lying Indian Media Caught Red Handed
India's Firehose of Falsehoods
Padlocked Grave Story Confirms Yet Again India's Status as the Hub of Fake News
H1-B Visa Abuse By Indian-American Body Shops
India: A Rogue State Ruled By Gangsters?
Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel
8 comments:
Indian lies not only cost gullible people money, but they also cost gullible nations lives.
The Causes of the Vietnam War
Just remember the word Thug came into English from India. Enough said.
G. Ali
Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, an Indian-American entrepreneur, on all 12 counts of fraud in 2022. Balwani was born in 1965 in Pakistan to a Sindhi Hindu family.
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How is this person a Hindu? I know, Pakistan has next to nothing to offer as success by Hindu/Christian/Sikh minorities. But then please keep the credit for criminals originating from your society.
Now coming to the headline, Builder.ai was known to be using a business model with "human powered ai". Investors including MS and QIA investedin it knowing that. The bankruptcy is entirely due to inflated profits/accounting irregularities.
It is highly misleading to claim that this is a tech. scam.
Time to reassess, size up Pakistan
There is a need to pay greater attention to how the world views India’s neighbor
By Sanjaya Baru
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/time-to-reassess-size-up-pakistan/
PAKISTAN is a failed State. Pakistan should be declared a terrorist state. Pakistan’s economy is sinking. Pakistan has been internationally isolated. We have dehyphenated ourselves from Pakistan. Even Prabowo Subianto, President of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, delinked his visit to India from a trip to Pakistan. For a decade now, the Indian public has been fed this narrative. A leading New Delhi think tank even published a paper by one of its senior scholars, titled, ‘Jaishankar Makes it Clear: Pakistan is Now Just a Sideshow for India.’
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The first task of national security and foreign policy management has to be the correct sizing up of one’s enemy. Second, to ensure adequate contact at different levels that facilitates an exchange of credible information. By shutting down all diplomatic, business and civil society engagement with Pakistan, India has deprived itself of the means to acquire a balanced assessment of its neighbour and the ability to influence opinion across the border.
While the economic gap between the two countries has certainly grown, Pakistan is not a basket case. It has a sizeable economy, a sizeable industrial and agricultural base, links with major economies and a competent military.
In a recent interview with The Print’s Swasti Rao, a European diplomat reminded Indians of the many strengths and capabilities of Pakistan’s air force. Apart from its hard power, Pakistan has always enjoyed the soft power of its elite
Zen: " How is this person a Hindu? I know, Pakistan has next to nothing to offer as success by Hindu/Christian/Sikh minorities"
You obviously know "next to nothing" about Pakistani Hindu community.
Please read: https://www.riazhaq.com/2020/08/india-paradise-for-pakistani-hindus.html
Zen: "Now coming to the headline, Builder.ai was known to be using a business model with "human powered ai". Investors including MS and QIA investedin it knowing that. The bankruptcy is entirely due to inflated profits/accounting irregularities"
Please read below:
https://medium.com/@thomas_78526/builder-ai-was-a-scam-d1f8fdd16c3f
"Imagine a company that’s worth 1.2 billion dollars, with governments giving them money, and even Microsoft throwing in 50 million dollars in VC funding. Yet somehow, it was an elaborate scam. Their “promise” was that they had an AI code generator. Their reality was that they had 50+ Indian junior software developers manually creating the code, hidden in some basement in India somewhere. Welcome to Builder AI, the biggest AI scam in history (so far)"
In my previous comment, I owe a correction: Question is "how is he an Indian"? Just because he is a Hindu originating from Pakistan, he doesn't become an Indian. That much you should have been able to reason? To my knowledge, unlike in India, there are not even any trophy success stories for Pakistani minorities (before we get into the more meaningful question whether trophy success stories have any meaning for average person from that community).
Instead of stories in medium by non journalists, you should check out the latest story in FT on this. It is an accounting scam and it was understood to be "human powered", but the unverified claim about 700 Indian engineers makes a better headline, in India itself.
Fatima Khan
@Fatima_Khatun01
Economic Illusion or Reality? Professor Arun Kumar Raises Serious Questions About India’s $4 Trillion Economy Claim
A recent statement by renowned economist Professor Arun Kumar has sparked a fresh wave of debate on the actual size and health of India’s economy. In a country where high-profile economic announcements are often hailed as historic achievements, Professor Kumar’s data-backed skepticism challenges the official narrative.
Who is Professor Arun Kumar?
Professor Arun Kumar is a senior economist and author, known for his critical and data-oriented approach to analyzing India’s economy. With years of academic and policy experience, his insights often serve as a counterweight to government-released statistics.
His Argument: Economic Shocks Under PM Modi’s Leadership
1.2016 – Demonetization:
The sudden withdrawal of ₹500 and ₹1,000 currency notes was pitched as a move to fight black money and corruption. Kumar argues that this move severely disrupted the informal sector, which constitutes a large portion of India’s employment and GDP.
2.2017 – GST Implementation:
While the Goods and Services Tax was intended to simplify India’s tax structure, Kumar believes its hurried and complex rollout hurt small businesses, creating confusion and compliance challenges across the country.
3.2018 – NBFC Crisis:
The collapse of IL&FS triggered a liquidity crunch among non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), leading to tighter credit conditions that affected sectors like real estate and small-scale industries.
4.2020 – COVID-19 Lockdown:
The national lockdown imposed in March 2020 was one of the most stringent in the world. While necessary for public health, Kumar argues that its economic impact was devastating, especially for migrant workers and daily-wage earners.
The $4 Trillion Economy Debate: Fact or Fiction?
The government and several mainstream outlets have recently celebrated India’s economy crossing the $4 trillion mark, projecting it as a milestone that puts India among the top global economic powers.
However, Professor Kumar disputes this claim. According to him:
•The real economic value may be overstated by as much as 42%, mainly due to how the informal sector and inflation are calculated in the GDP data.
•He suggests that India’s actual GDP is closer to $2.7 to $2.9 trillion, putting it above Italy ($2.5 trillion) but not yet comparable to Japan ($4.4 trillion) as claimed by some narratives.
Should His Concerns Be Taken Seriously?
Professor Arun Kumar’s critique is based on long-term economic indicators and his deep analysis of data inconsistencies. He calls for greater transparency and a more accurate methodology in calculating GDP, especially with regard to the informal sector, which is often poorly captured in official statistics.
His arguments highlight the gap between headline figures and on-ground economic realities, particularly for sectors that are not part of the formal, digital economy.
https://x.com/Fatima_Khatun01/status/1929581130258251828
Zen: "Just because he is a Hindu originating from Pakistan, he doesn't become an Indian"
His family migrated to India. He held Indian citizenship when he came to the United States.
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