CBI corroborates Raju's version of Satyam fraud

17 Apr 2009, PTI

NEW DELHI: Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju was honest at least about his dishonest dealings, with CBI finding that balance sheets were inflated by Rs 5,020 crore - almost the same amount disclosed by the former IT posterboy.

CBI, in its chargesheet, said it found that books were first inflated in fiscal 2001-02. As against the projected cash and bank balances of Rs 5,160 crore by the end of second quarter of 2008 in the balance sheets of the company, the actual cash and bank balance was only Rs 139 crore, thereby reflecting a gap of Rs 5,020 crore.

Satyam had been maintaining deposit and current accounts with as many as 15 scheduled banks over the years and CBI, with the help of chartered accountants, had prepared a comparative picture of cash balances in current account, money parked in fixed deposits as shown in the balance sheet and the actual cash available in the current account and the money available in the FDRs.

"Thus, it is revealed that huge amounts of cash and bank balances were fraudulently and dishonestly reflected in the balance sheets of SCSL (Satyam) by the accused, where only very less amounts of cash and bank balances were actually available," the CBI said in the chargesheet filed earlier this month against Raju and eight others.

Raju, in a letter to Satyam's board on January 7, had mentioned that the balance sheet as of September 2008 carried non-existent cash and bank balances to the tune of Rs 5,040 crore.

"Thus, the investigation established that the balance sheets for the second quarter of 2008 had non-existent cash and bank balances to the tune of Rs 5,020 crore. Similarly, the non-existent cash and bank balances fraudulently and dishonestly reflected by the accused in the balance sheets during the previous years are also established," the CBI chargesheet said.

It alleged that the current account balances in Bank of Baroda, New York branch, alone reflected Rs 3,319 crore in Satyam Computer accounts raising the total cash and bank balances become to Rs 5,103 crore.

However, the actual cash and bank balances available at the end of second quarter of last fiscal were only Rs 61 crore, making the difference as Rs 5,042 crore, it alleged.