Satyam's Rs 760 cr raised in US eludes fraud office

The IT firm had mopped up capital as ADS in the US in 2001

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office has referred the issue of Rs 760 crore raised by scam- tainted Satyam Computer through share sales in 2001 in the US to the Enforcement Directorate for further inquiry, after failing to trace the amount.

SFIO, in its report on the Satyam fraud case, said  the IT company’s claims of depositing funds raised through American Depository Shares in 2001 in banks could not be verified.
Satyam in 2001 through a public issue in the US raised Rs 760 crore and claimed it deposited the amount in Citibank, New York.

Though the company claimed that it transferred Rs 397 crore to India, SFIO report said, it “was wrongly mentioned to have been transferred to India and the actual utilisation of this amount could not be traced as all the amounts were transferred from this account to some unknown accounts through Citibank, Bahrain.”

Though SFIO took up the matter with the Citibank to find out details of transfers, it failed to trace the amount.

“They (Citibank) are still showing their inability to provide this information on the plea that all such transfers are routed through Citibank’s system account No 10996665 Citibank, N A Bahrain,” the report said.

As the issue involves foreign currency transactions, the SFIO submitted the details of correspondence with the company and statements received from Citibank, New York, to the Enforcement Directorate for necessary action. According to the report, the then brass in Satyam, “failed to give details of utilisation of money raised by Satyam through the issue of ADS.”

Also the company in its bank book has, “falsely shown an amount of Rs 397 crore as having been transferred to accounts of Satyam maintained in India with branches of BOB, BNP, HSBC and HDFC,” the report added.

Falsified bank books

The then management of Satyam, it said, falsified the bank book of company to show inflated balances to create a rosy picture before investors and other stakeholders.

Even the company, the report said, was not able to give a proper reply on utilisation of the proceeds of ADS totalling US$152 million. The company had incurred an expenditure of Rs 53.15 crore, which was adjusted against the share premium on ADS. The account books of the company revealed that most of the amount were transferred to various bank accounts of Satyam in India.