Former chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. B. Ramalinga Raju and nine others, two of them family members, were sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment on Thursday in the country’s largest-ever corporate fraud.
The special court imposed a fine of Rs. 5.5 crore each on Raju and his brother Rama Raju, ex-managing director, and about Rs. 50 lakh each on their sibling Suryanarayana Raju and seven others.
Confessional statement
A confessional statement by Raju on fudging of accounts by his company on January 7, 2009, following the aborted acquisition of Maytas Properties and Infra, shook the corporate world as his meteoric rise had made him a household name among stock market investors.
Raju, seated in the accused box, looked calm as Judge B.V.L.N. Chakravarthi delivered the verdict. Initially, the judge who pronounced them guilty, did not disclose the quantum of punishment as he wanted to hear the accused and their counsel.
He delivered the sentence after the lunch break. Only the lawyers and accused were allowed inside the court hall while media personnel waited in the corridor outside.
The court found the accused guilty under 14 counts for various offences and sentenced them to imprisonment for different periods besides imposing fines.
The sentences will run concurrently and the maximum punishment each accused will get is seven years.
Raju has already spent nearly 29 months in jail.
| >Investigating the Satyam scam Nothing can obscure the inordinate delay on the part of the government in setting the law in motion. | >Separating truth from lies Why did the company choose to take the criminal route of falsifying accounts and indulging in fraud? | >Pursuing Satyam scandal “It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.” - Ramalinga Raju. |