Satyam fraud worse than first thought
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New charges bring total value of fraud by Indian outsourcer, now known as Mahindra Satyam, to over $2.8 billion
The extent of the fraud conducted by senior executives at Indian IT services provider Satyam is significantly greater than the company’s chief executive first admitted, according to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
When Satyam founder and chairman B Ramalinga Raju confessed to the fraudulent accounting in January 2009, he said that $1.45 billion of Satyam’s stated revenue had been fabricated.
However, the CBI now alleges that Satyam executives also secured loans based on their fraudulent accounting, and further inflated revenues, to the tune of $1.3 billion.
"The quantum of scam and the loss suffered by investors has been quantified,” said CBI Deputy Inspector General Lakshminarayana. “The loss suffered by investors works out to over Rs 14,000 crore ($2.8 billion).”
Following the scandal, fellow Indian outsourcer Tech Mahindra bought a controlling stake in Satyam, and rebranded the company Mahindra Satyam. Today’s revelations prompted an 8% decline in Mahindra Satyam’s share price.
