Andhra govt to go for CBI probe into Satyam scam

Hyderabad: Under fire for allegedly going soft on the Satyam Computer Services Ltd scam probe, Andhra Pradesh government on Monday decided to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the over Rs 7,000-crore accounting fraud in the software company.

Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recommending that the investigation into the fraud be taken over by CBI, more than a month after the scam came to light.

The letter by Reddy comes on a day when opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu launched a vitriolic attack on the Chief Minister accusing his Congress government of failing to hand over the investigation to CBI.

Naidu said the CBI should take over the probe as the matter involved several aspects including overseas operations of Satyam Computer Services.

The state government had earlier ordered a probe by state CB-CID but the fraud involved various aspects that needs to be looked at deeply by various central government organisations like Enforcement Directorate, Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) which warranted CBI probe, Reddy said in the letter.

"It would be appropriate if CBI takes over the investigation into Satyam scam so that co-ordination with various investigation agencies, including Satyam's overseas operations, can be better achieved," Reddy said.

He added, "I request you to kindly consider the matter at the earliest and issue suitable instructions to the concerned officers".

The Chief Minister said the investigation into the fraud has so far revealed "embellishment" of bank accounts by the company for many years. The inflated figures in current account balance is testified by concerned bank officials.

"In addition, the company has raised money from NBFCs by pledging shares. More than 300 companies were reportedly raised by Ramalinga Raju and his relatives as directors which facilitated insider trading of shares. The investigation is continuing," Reddy said.

The company has employed more than 50,000 software professionals and lakhs of shareholders and the state government was trying to protect their interests, he said.

Earlier on January 28, the Chief Minister had written a letter to the Prime Minister saying his government was open to a CBI probe into the Satyam fraud.