SFIO files case against Raju and others

NEW DELHI: The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) on Monday filed a case against accused Ramalinga Raju and others in the Satyam case before a Hyderabad court.

The government has asked the investigating agency SFIO to initiate prosecution proceedings against those involved in Satyam accounting fraud and partners of Price Waterhouse, the auditors of the IT company.
“SFIO today (on Monday) filed complaint petition before a special magistrate judge for economic offences in Hyderabad,” Khurshid told reporters on the sidelines of a CII event here.

SFIO, an arm of the corporate affairs ministry, had investigated the Satyam accounting fraud and submitted its reports to the government detailing violations of company law by founder chairman B Ramalinga Raju and others. “We have done our job now it’s the enforcement directorate and the IRS who are left to file their prosecutions,” Mr Khurshid further said.

SFIO would initiate proceedings on charges under the Companies Act 1956. The charges against the accused include falsification of balance sheet and profit and loss accounts, rigging stock prices and filing of false income tax returns.

Besides Ramalinga Raju, others involved in the fraud were Raju’s brother Rama Raju, Satyam’s former CFO Vadlamani Srinivas, and Price Waterhouse auditors S Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri.