Raju’s hasty arrest stalled probe: Sebi

'Mkt Watchdog Better Armed Than Police To Question Him'

Hyderabad: Pradyumana Kumar Reddy, lawyer of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), on Wednesday stirred a hornet's nest by saying that the judicial custody of disgraced Satyam Computer promoter B Ramalinga Raju was delaying the market regulator's probe into the case.
    Reddy's statement fuelled the rumours already doing the rounds, with many alleging that Raju was arrested in haste
to prevent/delay his interrogation by Sebi. It's being pointed out that it is Sebi, rather than the local police, which has the expertise required to carry out investigations.
    Reddy told TOI that Sebi's general manager Sunil Kumar, appointed as the investigating authority in the case, landed in Hyderabad on January 8, within 24 hours of Raju's confession of a Rs 7,000 crore fraud. While Sebi had issued summons to Raju to appear in Satyam's office on January 9 at 4.30 pm, he refrained from attending in person and had his lawyer S Bharat Kumar represent him.
    The same night, Raju was arrested. "If the investigating authority could have recorded his statement on January 9, it would have been able to submit the same at the earliest to the executive director,'' Reddy said.
    The application seeking permission to record Raju's statement was filed by Sebi on January 12, on the same day when his bail application was filed by his lawyer and the police sought his judicial custody. Sebi's plea will come up for hearing on January 16 along with his bail plea.
REBOOTING SATYAM
    KPMG and Deloitte appointed auditors to help Satyam board with reworking of financial statements
    Pricewaterhouse informs board that its audit of the company's financials could be ''inaccurate and unreliable'' in view of financial irregularities disclosed by Raju
    New directors say Satyam still a viable organisation that can make profit soon. But ensuring working capital is an immediate concern
    Govt likely to appoint more directors to Satyam board within 2 days. Strong buzz that former Hindustan Lever chief Ashok Ganguly may be one of the choices RoC raids Satyam office, CFO quizzed
Hyderabad: The Registrar of Companies (RoC) on Wednesday raided Satyam's Mayfair office in Secunderabad even as personnel from the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) swooped down on the company's corporate office in the city.
    Significantly, Ramakrishna G, the assistant of Satyam's former CFO Srinivas Vadlamani, was questioned again by both SFIO and Sebi officials on Wednesday. He had been let off by the cops after interrogation. TNN

Taking money from the govt will send a wrong signal. Our only concern is to keep the show going and hold on to the clients and workers
Kiran Karnik TO TOI