NSEL Investors Hanged Drawn and Quartered

 To be hanged, drawn and quartered was a  penalty in England  where convicts were fastened to a hurdle, or wooden panel, and drawn by a horse to the place of execution, where they were hanged (almost to the point of death), emasculated, disemboweled, beheaded and quartered (chopped into four pieces).

The more I see the plight of NSEL investors, the more I can relate to this English phrase.Though this penalty in England was reserved only for high treason, in India it seems to be the fate of people who invested (on strong recommendation of  national level brokers-wealth managers)  their  tax paid legitimate money at 13% in NSEL -an exchange semi regulated by the Forward markets Commission and promoted by FTIL who also promoted MCX.

NSEL investors  may be ridiculed for being greedy and reckless, called stupid for investing in an 'unregulated exchange' , found deserving of this fate for being 'speculators' and now even be branded 'bogus traders' .  If expectation of a meager 13% pre tax ( 9% post tax in an economy where food prices rise by 20% every year) return on investment is greed what would you call the stock market investors-punters who expect a daily upper circuit in the scrip they've invested? This same very greed-expectation on return on capital (which just about beats inflation) keeps the capital markets of the world and the economy ticking.

Innocent investors of NSEL seem to be a fair game for every Tom Dick and Harry (who love to take potshots at 'em)  in India as they neither have the numbers nor the political vote bank clout  to warrant attention or help. I have never been a big fan of P. Chidambaram but my disgust for him reached a new nadir when he said 'NSEL investors are no babes in the woods and they knowingly invested'.  My respect for Sucheta Dalal also nosedived the day she highlighted NSEL investors coming out of costly cars rather than focusing on her core specialty of exposing scamsters. My respect for judiciary also came down a notch when the Mumbai HC order 2 days back on Jignesh Shah's bail called me 'bogus trader' who knowingly invested in NSEL.  

Nothing can me more shocking, convoluted and  illogical.Which investor in this world would knowingly invest his tax-paid money in a fraudulent exchange sans any stocks. You need to be seriously hating your money or need to be a 'loony bin case' in order to do that. Does my money burn a hole in my pocket?  Hell No!!  Now the 'bogus'  investors in NSEL include 2 large public sector units  MMTC - PEC , an ex PM's family and an ex MP's family not to mention widows, students and middle class investors who have lost their life time savings. The criminal investigation wing of Mumbai Income Tax has already verified the authenticity of investments and account books of most NSEL investors and not found anything amiss at all.

As for we not being 'investors', here is the Oxford English dictionary definition- 'Investor': One who puts money into financial schemes, shares, property, or a commercial venture with the expectation of achieving a profit:' Do you need to be a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist to figure out such a simple term? Is Greed to generate return on your investment bad? Ask Gordon Gekko of the movie Wall Street and this is what he would say-

"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A"

There is another English phrase which comes to my mind thinking of Jignesh Shah's journey so far- 'Money talks and bullshit walks'. Bigger the money , bigger bullshit it can make walk !  Mr. Jignesh Prakash Shah the mastermind and biggest beneficiary of the NSEL scam seems to be cocking a snook and having a big laugh at all of us investors of NSEL.  Mr. Jignesh Prakash Shah listen carefully- the mills of the gods may grind slow but usually they grind exceedingly fine. There is only so much bullshit you can make walk with your ill-gotten pelf and somewhere your luck will run out.The game has now changed a little in last 3 months, Your zealous  protectors and benefactors at Delhi have gone and a new brand of  upright politicians are now in the seat. We investors might have lost a battle but the war will still rage on.

Jigneshbhai ,You can also tell your sidekick Joseph Massey who claims to be a devout Christian that the bread not earned by the sweat of ones' brow is no good and 'better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways' : Bible Proverbs 28:6