>> This is probably not true these days with modern COBOL

It still is. Which column (not row) a statement starts in matters and it's a syntax error to start the wrong statement in the wrong column. Sorry I don't remember any specific examples because it's been a few years since I last used COBOL.

I remember hearing that this had something to do with how the early COBOL programs were encoded on punched cards. Anyway there was some practical aspect to it that is now not an issue anymore with the changes to hardware.