Ramalinga Raju
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| Ramalinga Raju | |
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| Born | September 16, 1954 Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh, India |
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| Residence |  Hyderabad, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | former Chairman, Managing Director of Satyam Computers |
| Net worth | ▲ US$495 million (2004)[1]) |
| Spouse(s) | Nandini |
Byrraju Ramalinga Raju (born September 16, 1954) is the founder of Satyam Computers and was its Chairman until January 7, 2009 when he resigned from the Satyam board after admitting to corporate fraud.[2][3]. Satyam was created by Ramalinga Raju and others and was until recently perceived to be amongst the top Indian IT vendors. Raju has allegedly admitted overstating its cash reserves by USD$ 1.5 billion.[4] Later, allegations have been made that the company's assets were not inflated, but instead siphoned off by Ramalinga Raju. [5] Raju is currently held in Hyderabad's Chanchalguda jail on criminal charges including fraud, forgery, cheating, embezzelment and insider trading.
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[edit] Career
Raju founded Satyam in 1987 after venturing earlier into other businesses such as construction and textiles. He started an IT company with 20 employees that obtained the contracts for IT projects, mostly from US companies. Satyam rapidly developed and became a multinational company with thousands of employees spread over many countries. Raju showed a strong social orientation and has been furthering the cause of social transformation through Byrraju Foundation and EMRI[1].
[edit] Fraud
A botched acquisition attempt involving Maytas (a company owned by his own family) in December 2008 led to a plunge in the share price of Satyam.[6] In January 2009, Raju indicated that Satyam's accounts had been falsified over a number of years.[6] He admitted to an accounting fraud to the tune of 7000 crore rupees or 1.5 Billion Dollars and resigned from the Satyam board on January 7, 2009.[7][8] In his letter of resignation, Raju described how an initial cover-up for a poor quarterly performance escalated: "It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten."[9] Raju and his brother, B Rama Raju, were then arrested by Andhra Pradesh police on charges of criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, cheating, falsification of records and forgery. Raju faces up to ten years in prison if convicted of misleading investors.[10] Raju had also opened multiple benami (dummy) accounts through relatives and friends and used them to trade in Satyam's shares, violating the insider trading norm.[11] It has now been alleged that these accounts may have been the means of siphoning off the missing funds. [5]
[edit] Awards
- Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Services Award 1999
- Dataquest IT Man of the Year Award 2000
- Asia Business Leader Award 2002
- E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 (revoked after the scam)
- Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Governance 2008
[edit] References
- ^ Karmali, Naazneen (12 October 2004). "India's 40 Richest". Forbes (Forbes.com Inc.). http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/77/2004/LIR.jhtml?passListId=77&passYear=2004&passListType=Person&uniqueId=ZTSF&datatype=Person. Retrieved on 2009-01-08.
- ^ Bhosekar, Prasaad (7 January 2009). "Village refuses to abandon Satyam chief". Zee (Zee News Limited). http://www.zeenews.com/zeeexclusive/2009-01-07/496727news.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-08.
- ^ "Text of Mr Ramalinga Raju’s statement". Business Line (The Hindu). 7 January 2009. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/blnus/05071265.htm. Retrieved on 2009-01-08.
- ^ "Indian IT scandal boss arrested". BBC News (BBC). 9 January 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7821087.stm. Retrieved on 2009-01-10.
- ^ a b "Indian Executive Is Said to Have Siphoned Cash, New York Times, January 17, 2009
- ^ a b Joe Leahy (08-01-2009). "The $1bn black hole at the heart of company's finances". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24e4d8d4-dcf1-11dd-a2a9-000077b07658.html.
- ^ Blakely, Rhys (8 January 2009). "B. Ramalinga Raju, chairman of Satyam, admits £1bn fraud and quits". The Times (London) (News International Limited). http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article5469536.ece. Retrieved on 2009-01-08.
- ^ "Mr Raju's resignation letter". BBC News (BBC). 7 January 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/07.01.09_ramalingarajuletter.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-01-08.
- ^ "Satyam stunner: Highs and lows of Raju's career". Reuters (CNN-IBN). January 07, 2009. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/satyam-stunner-highs-and-lows-of-rajus-career/82183-7.html?from=rssfeed. Retrieved on 2009-01-07.
- ^ Blakely, Rhys (January 10, 2009). "Raju brothers charged with forgery in $1bn Satyam case". The Times (London) (News International Limited). http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article5485034.ece. Retrieved on 2009-01-10.
- ^ "Raju had opened multiple benami accounts: I-T probe". NDTV. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20090079818. Retrieved on 2009-1-15.
[edit] External links
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