Sebi chief,apex bank to brief parliamentary panel on Satyam case

Sebi chairman C B Bhave and representatives from the Reserve Bank of India and the corporate affairs ministry are likely to brief Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance about the latest developments in the Satyam fraud case at a meeting called on Wednesday to discuss the issue. In addition to representatives of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and RBI,sources said,officials from the banking division of the finance ministry have also been called by the Committee to give details of the Rs 7,800-crore Satyam fraud case. The 30-member Committee,headed by BJP member Ananth Kumar,according to sources,will try to ascertain the extent of fraud,role of auditors and veracity of the letter of founder-chairman Satyam Computer Services B Ramalinga Raju,who disclosed that the IT company was fudging accounts. Besides,the committee would also try to find out whether any pressure was being exerted on the investigating agencies to cover up the fraud amid speculation about involvement of political personalities in the Satyam case and the other companies promoted by kin of Raju,like Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties. In a bid to salvage the situation following admission of fraud by Raju,the government superseded the board of Satyam and appointed its own nominees on the board. The new board has already asked leading auditing firms — KPMG and Deloitte — to re-state the accounts of the Satyam in order to find out the true financial position of the company. The board’s fourth meeting,scheduled for today was postponed,though no reasons were given for the same. Apart from superceding the board of Satyam,the corporate affairs ministry had ordered an inquiry into the case by Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and asked the RoC,Hyderabad to inspect the accounts of eight related companies,including Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties.