(SFIO), has sought clarifications from 24 Indian companies

16 Mar 2009, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: The government’s specialised investigation agency, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), has sought clarifications from 24 Indian companies after it found that the former management of scam-hit Satyam Computer Services had forged invoices against them. The companies are from sectors like aviation, telecom and consumer durables.

SFIO has shot-off letters to the management of these companies asking for details of payments that have been made to Satyam on many instances.

“SFIO is verifying several transactions that were made on behalf of Satyam. The agency is seeking details from these companies, that purportedly made payments to the I-T company for its services to them,” a senior government official, who did not wish to be named, said.

SFIO’s move to seek independent clarifications from companies is aimed at finding the veracity of transactions. Satyam has a list of clients that include over 150 fortune-500 companies, many of them foreign companies.

SFIO, which was asked to investigate the Satyam scam on January 13, has one more month left to submit its final report to the ministry of corporate affairs. The agency is looking into the veracity of invoices to track the flow of funds into and out of the company.

The government has already said that fraudulent diversion of funds from Satyam cannot be ruled out. SFIO, which comprises officers from agencies like the department of income-tax, revenue, Sebi and Enforcement Directorate, is looking into the affairs of 325 companies related to Satyam and its disgraced founder Ramalinga Raju.

It is also investigating into the affairs of Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra, promoted by the Raju family. Apart from SFIO, capital market regulator Sebi and ED are also independently investigating into the affairs of Satyam, which prior to the scam was India’s fourth-largest software exporter.