Sad, not surprised, says Upaid

British mobile solution firm Upaid, which has been a customer of Satyam Computer, today said the fraud at the Indian IT firm was going on for several years prior to the current scandal.

"We are saddened but not surprised by the nightmare unfolding for other Satyam customers and stakeholders. As a customer of Satyam, Upaid believes it was the victim of fraud for many years prior to the scandal," Upaid said in a statement.

Upaid, which is already fighting a forgery case against Satyam in a US court, had last week filed a motion against Satyam with the state court, saying that they are looking for a testimony from Ramalinga Raju, CFO Srinivas Vadlamani, and the company's Head of Corporate Governance Jayraman after the abortive Maytas deal. "During its work for Upaid in the late 1990s, Upaid believes that Satyam failed to provide good title to intellectual property relating to our mobile payments technology and intentionally misled Upaid. It is now obvious that Upaid is not alone in its grievances. Others are now experiencing equally shocking revelations of violations of trust, industry practices and legal obligations," the statement added.

Upaid had filed a case in Texas district Court against the beleaguered IT major Satyam seeking a testimony, wherein they can ask Satyam about the entire Maytas episode and also they could call for details and documents.

"We are currently prepared to offer patience in our pursuit of justice so that we can move forward with the development of Upaid's business," Upaid added. It added that the move by Satyam indicated a "new realism by their management and board, and a willingness to resolve the mistakes of the past in a straighttforward and honest manner," it noted.

As regard to the old case, the British firm has also been asking for a testimony for the first case relating to forgery and fraud with Rama Raju, MD of Satyam and also the younger brother of Ramalinga Raju, Srinivas Vadlamani and Krishna G Palepu, a Howard Business School professor. The case is still pending in a federal court.