Satyam scam is of over Rs.14,000 crore: CBI

Hyderabad: The accounting scam at Satyam Computer Services is to the tune of Rs.14,000 crore (Rs.140 billion/$2.8 billion) and not Rs.7,800 crore (Rs.78 billion) as the company's disgraced former chairman B. Ramalinga Raju stated earlier this year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said.
The federal agency Tuesday filed a 200-page charge sheet in the special court for CBI cases here that had details of properties acquired by Raju and other accused and their financial transactions abroad through fictitious firms.

'The quantum of scam and the loss suffered by investors has been quantified. The loss suffered by investors works out to over Rs.14,000 crore,' said CBI Deputy Inspector General Lakshminarayana.

The accounting fraud, which shocked India, came to light Jan 7 when Raju quit as Satyam chairman while confessing that he had cooked the company's accounts and inflated profits over several years.

The CBI official said with the filing of the additional charge sheet the agency had completed the probe into the accounting fraud.

The agency, however, is contemplating to file separate charge sheets pertaining to the diversion of funds and the fraud perpetrated by the accused with regard to filing of income tax returns of Satyam.

The additional charge sheet said Raju and the other accused had acquired assets worth Rs.350 crore.

'The huge assets acquired by the accused with the fraud amounts have been identified. A total of 1,065 properties whose documented value is Rs.350 crore have been identified which include around 6,000 acres, 40,000 square yards of housing plots and 90,000 square feet of built-up area,' said a CBI statement.

The accused had also raised loans of Rs.1,220 crore by forging the resolutions of the board of directors, apart from inflating profits by Rs.450 crore by showing fictitious customers, CBI said.

The
statement said the accused falsified the accounts in the matter pertaining to the acquisition of shares of a Hyderabad-based company.

The accused have also resorted to criminal breach of trust in the matter pertaining to declaration and disbursement of dividends. Further evidence collected revealed the role of two statutory auditors in the fraud.

'In the supplementary charge sheet, we have filed the charges under various sections of Indian Penal Code like 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 419 (impersonation), 420 (cheating), 467, 468 and 471 (all pertaining to forgery),' the CBI official said.

The first charge sheet was filed April 7.

In addition to the nine accused, the investigating agency has also levelled charges against internal auditor V.S. Prabhakar Gupta.

Gupta, arrested two days ago, has been charged with breach of trust, forgery, cheating and fabrication of accounts.

'In the supplementary charge sheet, we have cited 301 additional witnesses and nine material objects. We have also filed 1,550 additional documents. With this the quantity of documents in this case has gone up to 55,000,' Lakshminarayana said.

The multi-disciplinary investigation team comprising officials of the CBI, the income tax department, enforcement directorate and the Reserve Bank of India, has also gathered details of Raju's bank transactions in Mauritius.

Raju and his brother and then managing director Rama Raju were arrested by the Andhra Pradesh police Jan 9. Former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas was picked up the next day.

Two auditors were also arrested the same month.

The CBI, which began the investigations in February, arrested three executives of Satyam's finance wing in April.

All the accused are currently lodged in Chanchalguda central jail here.