Govt orders SFIO probe into Satyam scandal;

Govt orders SFIO probe into Satyam scandal; CID team raids PWC office

The government on Tuesday ordered investigation into the Satyam scandal by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), an entity that probes cases of economic offences of grave nature.

"The SFIO will submit its report in three months," Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta told reporters in New Delhi.

The government ordered the probe by the SFIO after receiving a report from the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Hyderabad, which inspected the books of accounts of Satyam Computer Services and eight other companies belonging to the kin of the former chairman of the IT major, B Ramalinga Raju.

Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta said, "The government has ordered the probe (by the SFIO) based on the RoC report.

"The SFIO will be looking into the entire gamut of irregularities and other related anomalies... the (irregularities) in books of accounts and other acts of commission and omission."

The investigating agency, he said, "(has) also been asked to go into all aspects (and role of) directors, promoters, Satyam company, auditors and all."

On the role of the regulator and regulation, the Minister said, "This is an issue which is also being looked into by the government. We will have detailed discussions on this."

As regards appointing more directors on the board of Satyam, Gupta said Corporate Affairs Secretary Anurag Goel was in constant touch with the board and "a decision (to appoint more directors) will be taken without delay...as and when required. We are working on that."

The government on Sunday appointed a three-member board comprising HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, former Nasscom President Kiran Karnik and former Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) Presiding Officer C Achuthan to salvage Satyam Computer.

Talking to newspersons after the first meeting of the new board on Monday, Parekh had said that more directors were likely to be appointed by the government.

The government, according to the order of the Company Law Board (CLB), which disbanded the Satyam board, can appoint at most 10 directors on the board of IT company.

CID team raids auditors PWC office

CB-CID on Tuesday raided the offices of the Price Waterhouse Coopers in Hyderabad in the wake of the startling disclosure of over Rs 7,800 crore financial fraud .

The CID have also reportedly taken into custody Ramakrishna, an auditor with the PWC to unravel the criminal conspiracy.

Police continued their searches at the house of Chief Financial Officer V Srinivas, who during his interrogation had denied involvement in the conspiracy, claiming that he did what he was asked to do by Ramalinga Raju and Rama Raju.