'No trace of Maytas funds in Satyam'

22 July 2009

HYDERABAD: In a fresh twist to the Satyam-Maytas saga, the top honchos of Mahindra Satyam denied having any knowledge of Rs 600 crore having found its way from Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties coffers into Satyam.

Vineet Nayyar, executive vice-chairman of Mahindra Satyam, told TOI that they have not received any communication from the two Maytas companies seeking a refund. "People can claim anything. But as far as we are concerned, till the Satyam accounts are restated we cannot say how much money has gone out of Satyam or into it," said Nayyar. "The forensics are being done by our finance team to untangle the financial manipulations at Satyam. We are in the process of restating the accounts," he added.

It was only on Saturday that government-appointed director of Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties, Ved Jain had declared that the two companies, promoted by Ramalinga Raju's sons, had given Rs 380 crore and Rs 220 crore, respectively, by way of inter-corporate deposits (ICDs) to Satyam and that they had initiated proceedings to get the money back. Jain had claimed that there were records that the money had ended up at Satyam from Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties via certain Maytas controlled companies and that they had the documentary proof to support their claims.

Gearing up to battle class action lawsuits filed in US, new owners of Satyam do not seem to be in a mood to entertain the latest in a series of claims by the Rajus. Even as the Mahindras had, on an earlier occasion, said that they had found no evidence of Satyam having received any cash from Maytas, Ramalinga Raju's brother Suryanarayana Raju had staked claim to Rs 1230 crore.

He had claimed, in a letter that Satyam owed the money to a clutch of private companies owned by him. The Mahindras, who just upped their stake in Satyam to 42.7% through subsidiary Venturbay early last week, are already grappling with the legal issues facing the company.