9 Unbelievable Facts About Subrata Roy And His Sahara Scam

The Sahara Financial Scam is one of India’s biggest cases of economical default. The chief of Sahara- Subrata Roy robbed the poor and vulnerable without a single thought with a smile on his face and Rolex on his wrist. After facing legal troubles, the Netflix show on the Sahara Scam, Bad Boy Billionaires was released. The episode on Subrata Roy showcased how delusional and power-seeking some uber-rich people can be.

Here are some of the most shocking facts revealed in the documentary:

1. Subrata Roy created a cult around himself where people called him their saviour

Subrata Roy managed to gain the loyalty of the poor people in the rural regions by rolling out some Sahara schemes that profited them in the early days. This made him the god of the poor and many followed the man blindly by considering him their guru.

He did this to save himself in the future so that he can get out of the legal issues by blaming others.

2. Subrata’s employees used to say ‘Sahara Pranaam’ when he passed by

They used to call him Saharashri and did a special salute to him with their hands on their chests.

3. He once held an unbelievable large rally with 1.1 million employees from all over the country

They sang the national anthem and executed other activities that are generally done only at religious gatherings.

4. He cunningly sent SEBI 5 crore documents (mostly fake) during the investigation

The documents were sent in 127 trucks at midnight to make things difficult for SEBI. He pulled off this stunt to stall the investigation as SEBI would take many months to scrutinize the documents.

5. He ordered the Vice President of Sahara, Rajiv Bajaj, to colour his hair black to match his own.

6. To build his image he married off 101 women from lower-economic backgrounds in a big joint ceremony

The con wanted people to accept him as a man of family and trust. He wanted to build a reputation as a trustworthy person who would keep your money safe. This was just another calculative move.

7. The fine levied by the Supreme Court on Sahara was the largest ever financial penalty in Indian history

The largest penalty in Indian history rounded off to an amount of $3.6 billion.

8. Financial regulator SEBI has the job of hunting down and refunding around 30 million people who invested in Sahara’s 2 companies that went public

However, millions belonging to the lower economic background will never get their money back who invested in different Sahara schemes which are not even covered under the SC ruling.

9. The wedding of Subrata’s 2 sons in 2004 was the most lavish and expensive wedding in India’s history at that time

The wedding reportedly cost $60 million and had 10,000 guests including the PM, various CMs, and A-list movie stars.

If you guys haven’t seen this episode yet, go watch it now!

All images have been sourced from Netflix or else mentioned.