ED chargesheets ‘Satyam’ Raju, 212 others

Enforcement Directorate (ED), which probed into the multi-crore Satyam fraud case, filed a chargesheet on Monday against its founder Ramalinga Raju and 212 others for allegedly indulging in money laundering under corporate veil. As many as 166 firms floated by Raju and his family members are among the accused in accounting fraud case which rocked the corporate world in January 2009. ED filed the bulky report before the XXI Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate-cum-Special Sessions Judge here seeking to prosecute the accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In the chargesheet, the investigating agency also gave a detailed description of the modus operandi used by the accused to receive bonus shares, shares under Employee Stock Option Schemes and dividends on the inflated shares of Satyam Computers. The agency had already attached properties worth Rs 1,075 crore in the case.

ED highlighted the modus operandi used by the accused of receiving bonus shares, shares under Employee Stock Option Schemes and dividends on the inflated shares of Satyam

In a significant development, Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday filed a chargesheet against Satyam Computers founder Ramalinga Raju and 212 others, including 166 firms, for allegedly laundering funds under a 'corporate veil' to perpetrate the accounting scam that rocked the business world. ED filed the investigation report before the XXI Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate cum Special Sessions Judge here seeking to prosecute the accused for the offence of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED report alleged that Ramalinga Raju and the other accused, who have also been probed by CBI, 'derived proceeds of crime from the sale and pledge of inflated shares of Satyam Computers and Services Ltd (SCSL)'.

The report further stated: "It transpires that the accused resorted to inter-connected transactions, so as to ensure that crime proceeds were distanced from its initial beneficiaries, and laundered the said proceeds under the cover of the corporate veil, with an ulterior motive to project the properties so acquired as untainted ones".

ED also highlighted the modus operandi used by the accused of receiving bonus shares, shares under Employee Stock Option Schemes and dividends on the inflated shares of SCSL. The agency has already attached properties worth Rs 1,075 crore in the case. ED, which operates under Finance Ministry , is part of the multi-agency probe held into the accounting scam. ED has also interrogated prime accused Ramalinga Raju, his brother and former Satyam MD, Rama Raju, and the others named in the case.

It had registered a case against the Satyam founder and his family under PMLA, which defines money laundering offences as those involving money derived from any activity connected with the proceeds of crime. The Act provides for the freezing and seizure of the proceeds of crime. The ED prosecution complaint (charge sheet), names 213 accused — 47 individuals (among them Raju and nine other accused already named in the CBI charge sheet) and 166 firms, including SCSL.

So far, 350 immovable and 5 movable properties, valued at a cumulative Rs 1,075 crore, have been attached in the case, ED said. "The Directorate of Enforcement has since taken possession of most of the attached properties. The investigation is still going on in India and abroad for further identification of the proceeds of crime," the report stated. According to the ED charge sheet, Ramalinga Raju conspired with the other accused and published inflated balance sheets and annual financial statements continuously during the period 2001-2008, thereby projecting a very rosy financial status for SCSL to keep share prices over-valued and lure ordinary investors into buying the company's shares.