Satyam Scandal

Ever since Ramalinga Raju disclosed irregularities in financial statements of Satyam Computers, the share price of I.T. giant has plummeted to lowest ever Rs 26 in BSE. Raju has been arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and criminal Breach of Trust and is now remanded to Judicial Custody till January 23. Investigating agencies have reported that Raju has siphoned off thousands of crores of rupees from Satyam’s Accounts to two of his own companies Maytas Infrastructure and Maytas Properties both founded and Promoted by Raju Family. It seems Raju is not alone in this fraud. All those including Satyam’s Board of Directors, Auditors, Chartered Accountants, Bankers,Ministers who are beneficiary in the fraud of this magnitude are likely to be involved. What is most worrying is that Satyam’s profit has been inflated consistently since last couple of years and it has not been detected by Auditing firm PWC. Raju and his family and all others who are involved in this crime are more deadly than hard core terrorists. Terrorists can kill few people but people like Raju destroy lives of several thousand employees and shareholders who die a slow painful death. Both India and Pakistan are epicenter of terrorism. While Pakistan is harbouring terrorists who kill people with guns, India is harbouring terrorists who kill people with economic offence. An independent, impartial enquiry should be conducted in Satyam's case and those found guilty should be given most severe punishment which will act as deterrent to those who are going to commit economic offence in future. Satyam's is not an isolated case but a tip of the iceberg. Many more scandals are waiting to erupt from underneath the vibrant and growing Indian economy. Just watch out.