Wednesday, August 11, 2010

CBI: Raju formatted laptop to erase data

By S A Ishaqui

Hyderabad, Aug. 10: The prime accused in the multi-crore Satyam scam, B. Ramalinga Raju, had fraudulently reloaded the operating system of his laptop immediately after his confession, to destroy incriminating electronic records, the Central Bureau of Investigation told the High Court on Tuesday while filing an objection to Raju’s bail petition through an affidavit.

The CBI said the forensic examination of Ramalinga Raju’s laptop revealed that the reloading of his operating system was done on January 7, 2009 — the very day he confessed to fudging the company funds.

The CBI also said that most witnesses in the case are Satyam employees, and Raju still wields tremendous influence on them. Raju’s main agenda was to stay put in a hospital, as from there he could stay in touch with the outside world and use his money and muscle power to influence the witnesses, alleged the CBI.

Raju was admitted to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences on September 7, 2009, and he continues to be there till date. During this period, he has been regularly meeting his counsel, the CBI said. The CBI said Raju generated forged fixed deposit receipts of various banks and got them destroyed as part of a conspiracy after the fraud came to light.

According to the affidavit, the investigation revealed that Raju had sent Satyam Computer’s funds to a third party across the globe. Based on the information, the CBI had issued letters rogatory to the competent judicial authorities in the US, the UK, Mauritius, Singapore, Belgium and the Virgin Islands.

Partial replies from the US, the UK, Mauritius and Singapore have been received. Replies from other countries are awaited.

At this stage, granting a bail to Raju will only allow him to influence the witnesses in India and abroad and tamper with more evidence, said the CBI.

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