Satyam scam may be as big as Rs14,000 crore: CBI
25 Nov 2009
The Satyam Computer Services scam may actually be twice as large as was thought so far, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is the main investigator in the case. In a 200-page supplementary chargesheet, the CBI says investors have suffered losses of close to Rs14,000 crore from the scam.
With no headway into the aspect of diversion of funds in the scam, the apex investigating agency on Tuesday filed the second chargesheet, thereby drawing curtains on the probe into the accounting aspect of the scam. The CBI had filed the first chargesheet in April.
In the supplementary chargesheet, the CBI has also come up with new findings. One is the creation of fake customers to inflate revenues to the tune of Rs430 crore. Another is the fudging of board resolutions to take Rs1,220 crore as loans in the name of Satyam Computers - this is an angle that has not come to light so far. The CBI says a trial can start in the Satyam case.
V V Lakshminarayana, deputy inspector general of the CBI, told newspersons in Hyderabad that the supplementary chargesheet, which brings evidence against of the 10 accused in the scam, has included charges like criminal breach of trust, among others.
Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju had made wrongful gains to the tune of Rs1,930 crore by pledging shares and around Rs750 crore by offloading shares of the company, said Lakshminarayana.
Also, the three main accused - the Raju brothers and former Satyam chief financial officer CFO Srinivas Vadlamani -resorted to criminal breach of trust and falsified the accounts with respect to acquiring Nipuna Services, the company's BPO arm, amounting to Rs180 crore. This apart, the investigating agency has identified over 1,000 properties acquired by the accused with wrongfully gained money.
