Corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid today said the Serious Fraud Investigation Office has not stopped the investigation in the Satyam fraud case, as suggested by few media reports, and the additional investigation in the matter by the SFIO is still on and in its final stage. As regard probing abroad, the investigating agency is not empowered to do so and it is being done by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate.

“It (investigation abroad) is to be done by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and it is doing it. SFIO functions relate entirely to violations of company law which has both civil and criminal consequences. It has investigated in that area and it will prosecute in that area,” Khurshid said while speaking at 37 th national convention of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ISCI) here

He said the areas which involve IPC violation would be handled by the CBI and those relating to foreign exchange regulation violations are being handled by ED, adding, “There were some minor issues and now it has been sorted out. I am waiting for the CBI to do final wrapping in the Satyam matter.” Referring to the safeguards being planned by the ministry to prevent Satyam-like incidents, Khurshid said the early warning systems do not intend to keep companies under strict vigilance.

“We have MCA 21, which provides information at our finger tips. Besides, periodically more information is sought through the regional offices and RoC. Through this we are trying to find out if there is pattern of behaviour (for fraud) and we try to isolate certain features to find out if something is going wrong. If something is unusual then it requires a special look by the ministry,” he said.

... contd.