CHENNAI:The Supreme Court on Monday acquitted Chintalapati Srinivasa Raju, co-brother of disgraced Satyam Computer Services Ltd chairman B Ramalinga Raju, from charges of being a promoter in the firm and, along with 13 other individuals, amassing nearly Rs 2,000 crore illegal wealth. The Satyam scam was regarded as one of the biggest corporate frauds.
The Supreme Court has declared that Srinivasa Raju was rather duped by promoters Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju, as they had mentioned him as a promoter in various letters to stock exchanges without his consent and knowledge.
“The fact that appellant (Srinivasa Raju) was not involved with fraudulent manipulation is clear from the fact that he ceased to be an executive director in the year 2000, while fraudulent manipulation of the accounts began from 2001,” the judgement stated.
It also provided evidence that Srinivasa Raju had retained a major part of his shares in SCSL until 2008, while the promoters had disposed their holdings by 2006 as they were aware of the credit crunch the company was facing.
Srinivasa Raju had also revealed that he had been selling his stake at Satyam only to fund his venture capital business and that he had not sold all shares in one go, but only when there was a business requirement.
The Supreme Court has also revealed that the manipulation of financial statements by promoters Ramalinga Raju and his cohorts was suppressed from the Board of Directors. Therefore, Srinivasa Raju, who was a non-executive director who was not involved in the day-to-day affairs of the company, was a victim of the fraud perpetrated by the SCSL chairman.
However, the judgement said promoters Ramalinga Raju and Rama Raju have been allegedly in possession of the UPSI, are said to have violated the SEBI Act and PIT Regulations, and will be investigated further in the case.
The Satyam scam broke out in 2009 when the then chairman Ramalinga Raju had sent a letter to the investors, employees of Satyam Computers and the government, confessing to a Rs 7,136 crore fraud committed by him, his relatives and a few employees.