Ex Internal Audit Head Prabhakara Gupta arrested

Mr V S Prabhakara Gupta, Head of Satyam's Internal Audit, was arrested today by the CBI probing the Rs 10,000-crore accounting fraud in India's fourth largest software exporter, which has been taken over by the Mahindra Group.

Mr Gupta, accused of fabricating accounts, particularly overseas pay bills, has been remanded to judicial custody till November 26.

He was named as an additional accused ahead of the CBI likely to file its second chargesheet on Satyam fraud, sometime later this month or early December 2008, sources said.

Mr Gupta's name did not figure in the CBI chargesheet filed in the local court here in April this year.

The CBI on November 18 had filed a memo before the Hyderabad 14th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate against nine accused including B Ramalinga Raju, the founder, who disclosed the fraud on January 7 this year, currently hospitalised at NIMS here. The court has adjourned the case till November 26, when case against Prabhakara Gupta will also be heard. CBI has been allowed to file supplementary chargesheet by November 30. The CBI team has returned from Mauritius looking into Satyam's transactions with banks where they got a scent of Prabhakara Gupta's alleged involvement leading to his arrest, giving a new angle before CBI is billed to file its second chargesheet. The SFIO was permitted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on November 14 to initiate prosecution against persons involved in the accounting fraud at Satyam along with the two partners of Price Waterhouse, Gopalakrishnan and Talluri Srinivas, for alleged violation of company laws. SFIO has formalised 30 charges under Companies Act 1956. The CBI will be acting on five to six charges involving criminal offence under Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Securities and Exchange Commissioner of USA (SEC) has been interacting with CBI, its team have visited Hyderabad thrice, looking into Price Waterhouse auditors role in the Satyam scam.

-- (UNI) -- 21DR105.xml

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