Washington: US market regulator SEC on Tuesday said that India's fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services, now Mahindra Satyam, has agreed to pay $10 million to settle charges related to the accounting scam by its promoter B Ramalinga Raju.
It also said five India-based affiliates of Price Water House Coopers (PWC), auditors to Satyam Computer, have agreed settle the SEC charges and pay $6 million in penalty.
"Satyam, whose new leadership cooperated with the SEC's investigation, has agreed to pay a $10 million penalty to settle the SEC's charges. Satyam also agreed to hire an independent consultant to evaluate the internal controls the company is putting in place," the SEC said in a statement.
On PWC, SEC said, "the PW India affiliates agreed to settle the SEC's charges and pay a $6 million penalty, the largest ever by a foreign based accounting firm in an SEC enforcement action.
Price Water India affiliated also agreed to refrain from accepting any new US based clients for six months.
In January 2008, Satyam Computer founder B Ramalinga Raju had admitted to committing an accounting fraud (of about Rs 7,000 crore) spread over a period of five years.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday charged India based Satyam Computer Services with fraudulently overstating the company's revenue, income and cash balances by more than $1 billion over five years.
SEC had filed a complaint in US District Court alleging that former senior officials at Satyam used false invoices and forged bank statements to inflate the company's cash balances and make it appear far more profitable to investors.
Satyam's American depository shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
After the fraud came to light, Satyam was taken taken over the government and was later acquired by Mahindras.
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