Satyam scam: SFIO probe panel finds evidence

Hyderabad, Jan 14: Now its official that Ramalinga Raju of Satyam was involved in the Rs 7000 crore scam. The The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has affirmed that the Satyam management led by B. Ramalinga Raju was involved in conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, forgery, cheating and violations of the Companies Act and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rules.

SFIO comes under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs was set up in 2003. SFIO is a multi-disciplinary agency which have experts from financial sector, capital market, accountacy, forensic audit, taxation, law, IT and investigation. The first investigations were carried out in the Satyam offices on Tuesday, Jan 13.

SFIO team led by Puneet Rastogi was in the city from Jan 8. The SFIO additional director, K V S Singh and joint director (banking), Sudhir D Samant, also arrived in the city for the probe. Meanwhile, the ministry issued a formal order under Section 235 and 237 of Companies Act to investigate the Satyam fraud case based on the preliminary report of the Registrar of Companies.

The corporate affairs minister, Prem Chand Gupta, said in Delhi the SFIO had been asked to submit its probe report in three months. A senior official said it was clear that the Raju brothers and promoters forged documents and cheated the investors who lost Rs 10,000 crore in the market. “They will be probed under Section 628 of Companies Act for falsification of balance sheet and under Sebi Act for fraudulent practices and insider trading," he added.

“All of them , the brothers, CFO and regular directors will face prosecution." However, the 20-member SFIO team in the city will not look into the assets and liabilities of Satyam and its promoters. It will be focus on the account books. SFIO will not make any arrests in the case. “The CID will continue its probe and the court may merge both the cases when the charge-sheet is filed," he added. This is the first time the SFIO is taking up a case of this magnitude. It usually takes up cases of closed down companies.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)