ED attaches 822 cr of Satyam founder, kin

The agency has charged Ramalinga Raju and his relatives with money laundering

 In what could be the biggest liquid cash attachment in the history of the Enforcement Directorate, the agency on Thursday froze Rs 822 crore worth of fixed deposits belonging to B Ramalinga Raju, the founder of erstwhile Satyam Computers, and his family members. 

    The freezing of the FDs, which were with four nationalised banks, is the fallout of a probe by the ED under thePreventionofMoneyLaundering Act (PMLA). The enforcement agency classified the money as 'the proceeds of crime'. The ED will file a petition before the trial court for confirmation of its action. 
    According to ED sources, Ramalinga Raju falsified the accounts of Satyam Computers and Services Limited and inflated the value of the shares.Hethentransferredtheshares held by him, his wife Nandini Raju, brother Rama Raju and his wife Radha Raju shares to SRSR Holdings, a frontalcompanyfloatedbyRajuwith his relatives as directors. 
    SRSR in turn pledged these shares at inflated rates to non-banking financial institutions and obtained loans to disguise the true source of funds. The money made thus was spent on buying properties in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The ED has already attached 254 such properties, valued at Rs 250 crore. 
    Out of the total Rs 2171.45 crore diverted to SRSR, a huge sum was spent on paying salaries and Rs 822 crore was saved in the form of fixed deposits, said a source in the agency. 
    An attachment under the PMLA ensures that such assets cannot be used by the accused and he/she cannot take any benefits from these properties. The order can be challenged by the accused at the apex authority of the said Act. 
INDIA'S BIGGEST ACCOUNTING FRAUD 
In January 2009, Ramalinga Raju confessed to having committed the country's biggest accounting fraud. The Andhra Pradesh police arrested him and handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation in the same month. 
    The CBI pegged the scam at Rs 14000 crore, which had led to many share holders losing money due to the manipulation game played by Raju and his accomplices between 2001 and 2009. 
    Following the intervention by the Government of India to protect the interest of 55,000 employees, Satyam was sold to Mahindra group and was subsequently renamed as "Mahindra Satyam". 
    Raju, who spent two years in Hyderabad's Chenchalguda Jail, is currently out on bail

Ramalinga Raju committed a massive fraud by falsifying accounts of Satyam