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Probe to cover eight other family firms

NEW DELHI: Following the massive financial fraud in Satyam Computer Services, the Centre has broadened the scope of inquiry to cover eight other firms in which the former chairman, Ramalinga Raju, and his family members are involved. These include Satyam BPO, Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra, Corporate Affairs Minister P. C. Gupta said here on Saturday.

The government has also started the exercise of forming a new board to run the beleaguered IT firm — it dissolved the existing board on Friday — even as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) served a show-cause notice on Price Waterhouse, Satyam’s statutory auditor, seeking clarifications on its role in the entire financial bungling. The ICAI has given Price Waterhouse 21 days to reply.

Mr. Gupta said the government would scrutinise bank statements and other financial details of the eight other companies owned by Mr. Ramalinga Raju’s family to find out whether they were involved in any kind of bungling or financial mismanagement. Reiterating that the guilty would not be spared, he said the government would take all possible action under the law to bring them to book.

“Action against the Satyam auditors has already been initiated by the ICAI. The government is concerned at the developments and would not allow the credibility of the Indian corporate sector, particularly the IT sector, to suffer,” the Minister said.

Sources said the government was considering prominent names from the business, IT, banking, education, finance and legal fields to form the independent 10-member board that will run Satyam for an interim period (until the probe is completed). Among those likely to be nominated were the former Nasscom chief, Kiran Karnik, and HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh.

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