US court throws out suit against Satyam directors
03 Jan 2013
A US federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a civil lawsuit against seven former directors of the now defunct Satyam Computer Services, citing insufficient allegations in the complaint.
The ruling in the class-action, or group, lawsuit involved only the former board members, not other defendants in the case.
District Judge Barbara Jones ruled in New York that most of the allegations in the complaint ''concern an intricate and well concealed fraud perpetrated by a very small group of insiders''.
In a 71-page ruling she inferred that ''some former board members were themselves victims of the fraud''.
The accounting fraud at Satyam Computer is thought to be the biggest corporate scam in Indian history. Ramalinga Raju, formerly chairman of what was once a leading IT company, disclosed in January 2009 that he overstated assets by more than Rs7,000 crore.
In 2011, the company agreed to pay $125 million to settle a US shareholder lawsuit over alleged securities violations. Other defendants in the lawsuit have also reached settlements.