Rs 14,000 cr Satyam Scandal: 7-Year Jail Term for Raju

A special CBI court in Hyderabad has sentenced Satyam founder B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother B. Rama Raju to seven years in jail in connection with Rs 14,000 Satyam scam. It was the largest ever corporate scandal in India.

Apart from the jail term, a fine of Rs 5 crore each has been imposed on Raju Brothers. Eight other convicts got jail term of seven years. They will have to pay a fine of Rs 25 lakh each. Mr Ramalinga Raju (60) spent nearly three years in jail before being granted bail. The trial lasted for six years.

Satyam Computer Services was one of the leading IT company in the country. It also led the outsourcing race. Ramalinga Raju founded Satyam in 1987 along with his brother and brother-in-law. In 2009, he shocked everyone by disclosing that about $1 billion or 94 per cent of the cash on the company’s books was fictitious.

While the accounting fraud was to the tune of Rs 7,000 crore, it had caused an estimated notional loss of Rs 14,000 crore to investors and unlawful gains of Rs 1,900 crore to Raju and others.