38. Cobbler Scam
Year: 1996
Approx. Amount: $600 million*
Company / Person Involved: Dawood Shoes, Milano Shoes, Metro Shoes, Citywalk Shoes
Called “The Great Cobbler Scam,” this $600 million financial scandal involved shoemakers, and it is one of the largest scandals of its kind in Mumbai to this day. In 1996, Mumbai police arrested fifteen people from companies like Dawood Shoes, Milano Shoes, Metro Shoes, and Citywalk Shoes, and more for their involvement in a misappropriation scandal.
Cobbler Scam ©wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock.com
The businesses involved misappropriated $600 million that was supposed to have gone to cobbler organizations. As more and more of the companies were audited, the amount defrauded continued to increase, as well as the realization that the heist was carried out with the collusion of tax authorities, financial institutions, and banks.