Abhirup Roy on exclusive revealing lapses at many levels of bank led to India's huge PNB fraud | Reuters News Agency

Abhirup Roy on exclusive revealing lapses at many levels of bank led to India’s huge PNB fraud

Earlier this month, Reuters exclusively reported an internal investigation into the $2 billion fraud at India’s Punjab National Bank (PNB) had found widespread risk-control and monitoring lapses in many areas of the bank. PNB had previously alleged that a handful of staff at a single Mumbai branch issued fake bank guarantees over several years to help two jewelry groups raise billions of dollars in foreign credit and commit India’s biggest-ever bank fraud. However, Reuters reporters Abhirup Roy, Aditya Kalra and Euan Rocha revealed that a 162-page internal report produced by PNB officials tasked with probing the fraud laid bare lapses that go far beyond a few branch officers. In a Reuters Best: Journalist Spotlight Q&A, Abhirup offers a behind-the-scenes look at how they landed the scoop.

Q. How did you and the team score this exclusive?

A. Team Reuters had been on top of the alleged fraud at Punjab National Bank – the biggest in India’s banking history – right from the beginning. The fact that just a handful of employees had supposedly executed the whole scam without setting off any alarms was baffling. So, when reporting on the arrests and court proceedings that followed, I followed up with my sources about the role of other PNB officials and looked for hints in all the documents that came my way. It took immense patience and persuasion to finally get my hands on documents which revealed widespread risk-control and monitoring lapses by as many as 54 bank officials.

Q. What types of reporting were involved?

A. This story was mostly about shoe-leather reporting. I had to go out and meet with sources almost every day for more than a month, sometimes coming back empty-handed after waiting for five hours on the sidewalk. Most times, it was just about showing up in the hope that the person would finally talk to me. It took a lot of time to build the trust for people to open up slowly, give me leads and share vital documents.

Q. What was the hardest part of the reporting?

A. Even though there were three of us on the story – my colleagues Aditya Kalra, Euan Rocha and myself – pouring through thousands of pages and making sure we found the scattered bits of relevant info was certainly difficult and exhausting. What was equally challenging was the rigorous fact-checking we had to do several times after we’d written the story to make sure we had captured every angle accurately. Aditya suggested that we follow a certain format to log documents and take notes at the reporting stage, which proved to be a big boon when editing as we tracked down the various names, numbers and snippets we had used in the story.

Q. What makes you passionate about journalism?

A. In my early days at J-school, I had read a quote by George Orwell that said: “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations.” That has stayed with me ever since. The mere opportunity that journalism provides to tell stories that some don’t want told but many deserve to know is what drives me to go that extra mile in search of the news behind the news. Reuters has given me the best platform to do just that, and to do it ethically and without fear.

Q. What is your beat and what do you find most fulfilling about it?

A. I cover market regulations and fund management in India. The best part about this beat is that it is sector agnostic. From looking at how mutual funds rejig their holdings with pricing pressure in the pharmaceuticals sector to analysing how the upcoming general elections are shaping the views of foreign investors, I get to cover a wide array of subjects that directly drive investment decisions. Reporting on the evolving regulatory environment in India also means that I get to dabble in financial crime and dive deep into the innovative – and sometimes questionable – ways that people come up with to make more money.

Q. What have been your most rewarding and most difficult experiences as a journalist?

A. Without any formal training in finance, wrapping my head around jargon has especially been an uphill task. At the same time, that has also been the most exciting and rewarding part of being a journalist. The opportunity to learn something new every day has been enriching. Whether it be complicated economic concepts or quirky structures that investors use to avoid tax – it’s one fun ride.

Q. Can you imagine being anything other than a journalist? If so, what?

A. Journalism is not only my passion, it is also my calling; I can’t imagine myself doing anything else professionally.

To read the latest from Abhirup Roy, click here. Follow him on Twitter here.

Article Tags
Type: Journalist SpotlightReuters Best
Regions: Asia
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