ED books Raju, Satyam under money laundering law

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case against Satyam Computer Services and its tainted founder-chairman, B Ramalinga Raju, for alleged money laundering.

The ED says it has prima facie evidence that Raju and others have violated the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

ED sources alleged Raju diverted Satyam funds for purchasing nearly 50 plots at Medchal and Qutbullahpur near Hyderabad. Several hundred crore rupees are also said to been diverted from the accounts of Satyam and invested in purchasing land and other infrastructure for Maytas, promoted by the Raju family.

The directorate will now ascertain the authenticity of deals done by Satyam, including payments made to acquire companies abroad. It will send a team to some countries to investigate and get the documents of the alleged bank accounts opened in violation of Indian laws. It is also examining if some bank accounts were opened by the Satyam group in tax havens to re-route money back to India as investment in Maytas, according to sources.

Along with the Serious Fraud Investigation Office and the Registrar of Companies, it is trying to ascertain the antecedents of a Mauritius-based company allegedly used to channelise money to Maytas.

The ED may also look into non-repatriation of proceeds of exported goods, unauthorised accounts in foreign countries, under-invoicing of exports, over-invoicing of imports and any kind of invoice manipulation, siphoning of foreign exchange through fictitious and bogus imports and illegal acquisition of foreign exchange through the “hawala” route.

B Ramalinga Raju, the sources claimed, had confessed during investigations to using the Satyam money to buy prime land in and around Hyderabad, a process that had been going on for three years.