Sebi Files Complaints Against Satyam Founder Raju And Others

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has filed two complaints against the founder of erstwhile Satyam Computer Services Ramalingam Raju, his brother Rama Raju and others in connection with the account fraud which sounded the death-knell of the IT firm.

Sebi had earlier slapped a penalty of Rs 1,849 crore on the company, and banned it from market for 14 years.

The market regulator today filed two complaints in the special Economic Offences Court against the Raju brothers, former CFO Vadlamani Srinivas and two former auditors of international auditing firm PWC, among others.

"While one complaint deals with unfair trade practises allegedly adopted by Raju, the other highlights violations of the Insider Trading Regulations committed by Raju and his kin," said B S Siva Prasad, Sebi's lawyer.

Mr Prasad said both the offences fall under section 24 (a) of SEBI Act and carry punishment of up to 10 years in prison.

The first complaint named eight accused while the second names 14.

On January 7, 2009, Mr Raju, then the chairman of Satyam Computer, sent an email to the Sebi, confessing to inflating the cash and bank balances of the company, besides understating liabilities, etc. Satyam was the country's fourth largest IT firm then.

The company was later acquired by Tech Mahindra.

According to Sebi, the Raju brothers made "unlawful gains" to the tune of Rs 543.93 crore from sale of shares and Rs 1,258.88 crore by pledging some shares.