ED identifies 786 properties in Satyam scam

In what is unfolding as one of the biggest cases under the newly-amended Prevention of Money Laundering Act...

In what is unfolding as one of the biggest cases under the newly-amended Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA),the Enforcement Directorate will begin attaching hundreds of properties in the Satyam Computers scam.

Officials in the finance ministry said that along with investigating Satyams foreign banking transactions,the ED was presently focusing its attention on identifying proceeds of crime,specially since the CBI has also charged company officials under Section 467 of the Indian Penal Code,which is a scheduled offence under PMLA.

ED teams camping in Hyderabad since the scam broke have identified 786 properties registered in the names of 134 group companies and 256 individuals (including Ramalinga Raju and members of his family). The properties were acquired between 2005-2008 and are spread over Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu,Maharashtra,Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

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After examining all aspects of the scam in the light of provisions of the PMLA,the ED has highlighted the following for the purpose of identifying the proceeds of crime:

 A total of Rs 1,745 crores accrued to SRSR Holdings Pvt Ltd by way of pledging shares of Satyam Computers. The shares were held by the promoters of the company who injected artificial liquidity in it by fudging account books. The ED is calculating the differential amount as suspected proceeds of crime.

 The dividends and bonus shares which Satyam Computers issued to its promoters in the three-year period is also being regarded as proceeds of crime. The value of the dividends and bonus shares is being quantified on the basis of the charge sheet filed by the CBI.

It is understood that following the interrogation of key suspects in Hyderabad expected next week the ED will commence the attachment proceedings in several cities within the next month or two. Interestingly,this follows a word of caution the Directorate had to give to the companys new promoters to prevent them from mortgaging any of the properties and immovable assets being listed by them as proceeds of crime.

Ritu Sarin

Ritu Sarin is Executive Editor (News and Investigations) at The Indian Express group. Her areas of specialisation include internal security, money laundering and corruption. Sarin is one of India’s most renowned reporters and has a career in journalism of over four decades. She is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) since 1999 and since early 2023, a member of its Board of Directors. She has also been a founder member of the ICIJ Network Committee (INC). She has, to begin with, alone, and later led teams which have worked on ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, the Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, the Uber Files and Deforestation Inc. She has conducted investigative journalism workshops and addressed investigative journalism conferences with a specialisation on collaborative journalism in several countries. ... Read More

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