Reluctant Raju faces trouble

Gunjan Sharma
Posted: Sunday, Nov 22, 2009 at 2331 hrs IST
Updated: Sunday, Nov 22, 2009 at 2331 hrs IST

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New Delhi: Even as the CBI arrested Satyam Mahindra’s head of internal audit VS Prabhakar Gupta on Saturday as part of its investigation into the Satyam scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is turning the heat on Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju. With Raju and his brother B Rama Raju failing to respond to the ED’s attachment order for over 280 properties linked to the scam, the adjudicating authority has decided to pass an ex-parte order if they fail to respond by December 2.

Worth Rs 200 crore on paper, the current market value of the properties is estimated at around Rs 1,200 crore.

The ED’s investigation had revealed that Raju along with other accused floated 327 companies to invest his white-collar crime’s proceeds in real estate and other allied businesses. About Rs 2,000 crore funds were mobilised by these companies from various non-banking companies.

The ED found that the companies that were used to buy these properties had virtually no independent source of funding. The funds laundered by Raju and his associates were routed to these firms for purchasing real estate. During its investigations, the ED had recorded statements of Raju who is in the police custody. The adjudicating authority, set up under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, on Friday provided B Ramalinga Raju and his brother B Rama Raju last opportunity to respond to the notice issued to them by the authority. The authority had issued notices to Raju and his 131 associates on a complaint filed by ED seeking confirmation of its provisional order to attach their 280 properties. Raju and his brothers did not respond to the notice, sent twice. The authority has now warned Raju to respond before December 2, else an ex-parte decision will be taken.

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