Much-awaited verdict in Satyam fraud case likely today

A special court here is slated to pronounce Monday the much-awaited judgement in the multi-crore accounting fraud in erstwhile Satyam Computer Services Limited (SCSL).

During the last hearing on December 23, 2014, Special Judge BVLN Chakravarthi, while citing voluminous documents of the case, had said he would pronounce the verdict on March 9.

Around 3,000 documents were marked and 226 witnesses examined during the trial that began nearly six years back. The case was probed by the CBI.

Touted as the country's biggest accounting fraud, the scam had come to light on January 7, 2009, after the erstwhile firm's founder and then Chairman B Ramalinga Raju allegedly confessed to manipulating his company's account books and inflating profits over many years to the tune of several crores of rupees.

Raju was arrested by Andhra Pradesh Police's Crime Investigation Department two days later, after he allegedly confessed to the fraud, along with his brother Rama Raju and others.

Besides Raju, the nine others accused in the case are - his brother and Satyam's former Managing Director B Rama Raju, former Chief Financial Officer Vadlamani Srinivas, former PwC auditors Subramani Gopalakrishnan and T Srinivas, Raju's another brother B Suryanarayana Raju, former employees G Ramakrishna, D Venkatpathi Raju and Ch Srisailam and Satyam's former internal chief auditor V S Prabhakar Gupta.

Raju and others were charged with offences like cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery and breach of trust under relevant sections of IPC, for inflating invoices and incomes, account falsification, faking fixed deposits, besides allegedly falsifying returns through violation of various Income Tax laws.

At present, all the accused are out on bail.