deepak pace
DJ_DEE
New Delhi, January 14
Even as one of three newly appointed directors of Satyam Computer Services met senior government officials here today to brief them about the state of affairs in the fraud-hit company, reports suggested that the top executives of the IT firm reaped in millions from the sale of their shares before the fraud broke out leading to the arrest of chairman Ramalinga Raju and others.
Kiran Karnik, past president of Nasscom, who was appointed as one of the three directors on the Satyam board, held a series of meetings with senior government officials here apprising them of the situation. Although it could not be confirmed who all did Karnik meet, but official sources said he held a series of meetings with high-level officials.
Reports suggested that he put forward the view of the newly appointed board members that more new directors should be appointed to the Satyam board. Before dissolving the earlier board, the government had taken permission from the Company Law Board to appoint a total of 10 new directors to the company’s board.
Reports also suggested that some other captains of the industry, particularly of those companies which have a major stake in Satyam at present, had also met the Prime Minister to impress upon him for them to be appointed on to the board.
Reports emerging from the market point out that the top Satyam executives reaped in more than Rs 800 crore by selling company’s shares in the six-month period before the fraud hit the country’s fourth-largest software exporter, leading to a record fall in its share prices.
It has come to light that nine officials of the company sold a combined 2,67,358 shares since July 14, according to filings by the company to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Reports said the shares were sold in 32 transactions on the exchanges here, which were worth over Rs 860 crore.
After Raju admitted to the botching up of the account books on January 7 last, Satyam shares plunged a record 83 per cent that wiped out almost Rs 10,000 crore of the combined investor wealth. Experts here pointed out that the way the top executives of the company sold the shares also raises questions about the effectiveness of the country’s regulatory system. It could not detect what was happening, they said, while pointing also to the role of the independent directors on the board.
Reports further said the government could appoint more directors to the board of the crisis-ridden company over the next two days.
After the first meeting of the newly constituted three-member board on Monday, Parekh had said the board would elect a chairman after more members are appointed by the government to the Satyam board.
Meanwhile, UPA sources said at present there was question of the government looking to bail out the company or being seen to be owning it.
This, as any effort to bail out Satyam would set a precedent and then any company failing in the future would look to the government for a bailout.
Even as one of three newly appointed directors of Satyam Computer Services met senior government officials here today to brief them about the state of affairs in the fraud-hit company, reports suggested that the top executives of the IT firm reaped in millions from the sale of their shares before the fraud broke out leading to the arrest of chairman Ramalinga Raju and others.
Kiran Karnik, past president of Nasscom, who was appointed as one of the three directors on the Satyam board, held a series of meetings with senior government officials here apprising them of the situation. Although it could not be confirmed who all did Karnik meet, but official sources said he held a series of meetings with high-level officials.
Reports suggested that he put forward the view of the newly appointed board members that more new directors should be appointed to the Satyam board. Before dissolving the earlier board, the government had taken permission from the Company Law Board to appoint a total of 10 new directors to the company’s board.
Reports also suggested that some other captains of the industry, particularly of those companies which have a major stake in Satyam at present, had also met the Prime Minister to impress upon him for them to be appointed on to the board.
Reports emerging from the market point out that the top Satyam executives reaped in more than Rs 800 crore by selling company’s shares in the six-month period before the fraud hit the country’s fourth-largest software exporter, leading to a record fall in its share prices.
It has come to light that nine officials of the company sold a combined 2,67,358 shares since July 14, according to filings by the company to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Reports said the shares were sold in 32 transactions on the exchanges here, which were worth over Rs 860 crore.
After Raju admitted to the botching up of the account books on January 7 last, Satyam shares plunged a record 83 per cent that wiped out almost Rs 10,000 crore of the combined investor wealth. Experts here pointed out that the way the top executives of the company sold the shares also raises questions about the effectiveness of the country’s regulatory system. It could not detect what was happening, they said, while pointing also to the role of the independent directors on the board.
Reports further said the government could appoint more directors to the board of the crisis-ridden company over the next two days.
After the first meeting of the newly constituted three-member board on Monday, Parekh had said the board would elect a chairman after more members are appointed by the government to the Satyam board.
Meanwhile, UPA sources said at present there was question of the government looking to bail out the company or being seen to be owning it.
This, as any effort to bail out Satyam would set a precedent and then any company failing in the future would look to the government for a bailout.
