Government's probe finds ex-Satyam directors guilty

The government has decided to make all former Satyam Computer Services top executives and board members, including the independent directors, answerable for the fraud in the company on grounds that they "attempted to enrich themselves unjustifiably at the cost of the company and its stakeholders".Listing all the former top executives and independent directors, company secretary and Price Waterhouse auditors as respondents, alongside B Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju, the government said in a petition filed with the Company Law Board last week that some of them were even trying to escape from the country.It added that Ramalinga Raju, Rama Raju, Rammohan Rao Mayanpati, independent directors M Srinivasan, K G Palepu, M Rammohan Rao, V S Raju and T R Prasad failed to discharge their duties. The government also pleaded for the inclusion of ex-Satyam CFO Srinivas Vadlamani as a party, saying that he had "full control over the operational, financial and policy decisions of the company".Based on the investigation report of the Registrar of Companies, Hyderabad, the government said: "There is every reason to believe that the affairs of the company were carried out with the intent to defraud creditors of the company and its shareholders for fraudulent purpose.”Pointing a finger towards companies run by Ramalinga Raju’s sons, the government said: "There is a nexus between the second respondent (Ramalinga Raju) and the person in control of Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra Ltd, who are the sons of the second respondent. There is every possibility of the cash reserves having been siphoned off at any point of time prior to the public admission made by Ramalinga Raju on January 7, 2008."