CBI to seek details of Raju's bank accounts in US

New Delhi, Apr 3 (PTI)India's premier investigative
agency CBI probing the multi-crore financial scam in Satyam
Computer will soon approach the US to get the details of the
IT company's disgraced founder B Ramalinga Raju's bank
account.

Sources said CBI, which will be filing a chargesheet on
Raju and other accused in the scam next week, will send
Letters Rogatory to the US Justice Department seeking details
of Raju's accounts in Bank of Baroda's New York branch.

They said CBI would also seek the help of the US
Treasury Department to obtain the details of Raju and his
kins' accounts, believed to be in Bank of America.

The details of the accounts, after being procured,
would be submitted before the court in Hyderabad later,
sources said.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) had
submitted a petition in a Hyderabad court "as regards to
current account maintained in Bank of Baroda's New York
branch, and a non-existent balance of Rs 1,733 crore has been
found till date."

A supplementary chargesheet would be filed after
receiving information from abroad.

CBI had said last night that the first chargesheet in
Sataym would be filed on April 9 against Raju and other
accused, a process which may lead to beginning of trial in the
multi-crore accounting fraud case.

"We will be filing a chargesheet on April 9 but the
investigations into the case would continue even after that,"
CBI Director Ashwani Kumar had said and had added that the
confession made by Raju would also form a part of evidence in
the chargesheet.

The CBI, which set up a multi-disciplinary investigation
team, including officials from the Income-Tax Department,
Enforcement Directorate, RBI, among others, claimed that the
money involved in the scam was nearly Rs 10,000 crore, more
than what was stated by Raju in January.

Sources said the CBI retrieved over 7,000 fake invoices
and forged documents showing fixed deposits and bank balances
and their evaluation shows that the size of the scam is over
Rs 9,600 crore.

The CBI is also looking at the role of front companies
in rotating funds, the sources said, adding that the conduct
of the regulators is also being investigated and, if need be,
some officials may be probed. PTI SKL
AM