Arrested Satyam chief Ramalinga Raju, brother to be produced in court

Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 8:01 am

B Ramalinga Raju, the founder-chairman of Satyam Computer, and his brother Rama Raju, who were arrested by the Andhra Pradesh police last night, were questioned by the police throughout the night.

Police questioned the two for more than three hours, Raju lawyer Bharat Kumar said this morning.

Raju and his brother Rama Raju will be produced before the court on today, a top police official said.

“Both are in our custody… a case has been registered and we will produce them before the court within 24 hours,” director CB-CID VS Kaumudi told reporters outside the director general of police’s office.

Raju’s lawyer siad, they will seek bail and file anl applications in an appropriate court. Raju was also examined by a team of doctors after he complained of uneasiness, his lawyer said.

The Crime branch of Andhra Pradesh booked the two after questioning under charges of fraud, forgery. Bharat Kumar said that the two have been booked under Section 120 b (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 406, 467 and 427 (criminal breach of trust, forgery and using forged
documents as genuine.

Two days after shocking the country by admitting to Rs 7,800-crore fraud, tainted founder of Satyam Computer Services and his brother Rama Raju were arrested on last night (January 9) as part of the crackdown by Andhra Pradesh authorities and the central government, which disbanded the tainted information technology firm’s board on a day of fast-paced developments. (Read more)

54-year-old Raju, who stepped down as Chairman after admitting to the fraud on Wednesday and his brother, Rama Raju resigned as CEO and MD of the company, are currently in the custody of the CBCID Hyderabad. The IG of CID in Hyderabad VR Kaumudi said that Raju surrendered at the police Headquarters in Hyderabad at around 9.30 pm.

“A CID team went to Satyam Computers office but he was not there. He came to the police head quarters at around 9.30 pm and surrendered,” Kaumudi said.

Raju is also expected to appear before a Sebi probe team later today. According to his counsel Bharat Kumar, Raju will answer questions on the sale and purchase of Satyam shares from 2004 to 2009. (Read more)

Earlier, Raju was summoned by Sebi officials to appear before it by Friday… Instead his counsel Bharat Kumar appeared before the team of the market regulator at the Satyam office at Madhapur in Hyderabad as Raju did not turn up, citing ill-health…. Instead he sought three days time to submit the documents sought by Sebi officials .

PC Gupta to discuss Satyam issue with PM

Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta is likely to meet the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today on the Satyam issue. They are likely to discuss the constitution of the new board of Satyam, among other issues related to the fraud.

Earlier yesterday evening, the government disbanded the current board of Satyam Computer and announced that it would nominate 10 directors on its board. Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta said in New Delhi that the names of the new members would be announced soon for the board, which would meet in the next seven days.

The existing board of the company was scheduled to meet today to discuss the crisis that has engulfed the company and it’s over 50,000 employees.

Also read: B Ramalinga Raju’s confession

Actions by the government and state authorities came nearly 60 hours after the disclosure by Raju, presumed to have strong political friends, that put the company and its over 50,000 employees fate in limbo. Noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani said that the people involved in Satyam case “should not be given bail and put in custody for 14 days.”

What Raju will have to answer?

Several answers will be sought from Ramalinga Raju to some daunting questions regarding Satyam’s finances and his dealings.

* The first question that is likely to crop up is - Whether Raju had the support of the political establishment to cover up the fraud?

* Did PricewaterhouseCoopers and Satyam board members know about the accounting irregulatories?

* Has the company violated the provisions of the Companies Act?

* Will the company be liable to any law suits filed by the US regulators?

Who will take-over the reins of Satyam?

With the Satyam board disbanded, number of names have begun doing the rounds as far as taking over the reins of the company from Raju is concerned.

HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh and IIM-A Professor Jayant Varma are being tipped to join the new board of Satyam Services. Sources said the nominee members of the board would be from various fields such as law, finance, IT and insurance.

Besides, representatives from RBI, SEBI and LIC are also expected to join the new board.

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Arrested Satyam chief Ramalinga Raju, brother to be produced in court

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