The anatomy of a fraudster!

Zest for earning a fast buck leads channel people towards committing frauds
within the very community they deal in. Whether it the recent Sanjay Gupta's
Gravis Computer case or Chandigarh's Jordan Loyal, zest towards earning more
money by any means seems to be taking its toll on these fraudsters.

When we talk about fraudulent operatives in the channel community, whether it
is New Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow or Jaipur, the story remains same, only the
script and the main characters differ. And most often it is the desire of the
person to earn more and more money that lands him into trouble.

According to a leading New Delhi-based psychiatrist, Dr Naresh Bhuttan, most
people engaged in these bogus operations seem to find themselves in situations
that they cannot handle so easily and as a result go after just one objective,
that is to have money.

“Mostly in such cases people do not care how they go about building the
road that will lead them towards their goal of earning money. In most instances
these people are confused and not very clear about what is right or wrong. This
is a big difference between a person who has a tendency for committing frauds
and a common man who is leading a normal life,” he explained.

People from the channel industry confirm that it is this doubtful psychic
behavior that contributes towards making a fraudster out of a common channel
player. “Whether it is Sanjay Gupta or someone else. We know them quite well;
they have our trust. Certain circumstances clubbed with their inherent behavior
pushes them towards committing frauds,” informed a prominent channel partner
from New Delhi on condition of anonymity.

It is interesting to note that there are other fraudulent channel players in
the community who are still operating. Then there are some like Jordan Loyal who
have managed to disappear, leaving behind a set of worried distributors and
resellers. 

It may be recalled that in the month of August 2003, a prominent reseller of
Chandigarh, Jordan Loyal, proprietor of Fairbrother Marketing, absconded after
leaving outstanding dues of over Rs 1.25 crore. While a case was registered with
the local police, he is still absconding and is believed to be living somewhere
in the Europe.

Pressure from distis

Experts close to the indus-try believe that there is fair bit of pressure
from various distributors to push their products and sometimes this prop-els
people towards making sure that they sell more.

Setting right credit limits from time to time for different people is one way
of safeguarding one's interest. With more sectors and regional geographies
opening up, the IT industry within India has evolved over the years. The success
and future growth will depend on the ability to handle such critical issues more
effectively.

Zia Askari New Delhi, April 20