Satyam scam: ED probes Raju's land deals

Enforcement Directorate, which has attached close to 285 property worth over Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) of Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju, his relatives and others on the charge of money laundering, is now probing more such assets.

Official sources said while about 285 property were attached by the ED through an order in August, the agency is now probing the financial trail of many other properties which have been linked to Raju, his relatives and others.

They said the property, which were aquired through various front companies, were attached under relevant sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after it was found that firms under whose name land was bought did not have any first hand source of income to purchase any such assets.

Sources said many of the properties were declared as farm land even though they were prime commercial lands.

Sources said while the trial is set to start soon with the adjudicating authority in the national capital issuing notices to all the accused, they said the ED had already recorded statements of Raju in jail.

They said though the original value of the properties was less than Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) as shown in paper, the current rate would be over Rs 1,000 crore even on conservative estimate.

They said while many properties could have been acquired through ill gotten wealth from the Satyam accounting scam, which is being probed by various agencies including CBI and Serious Fraud Investigations Office, the agency is looking after only those that have been acquired after 2005, the year in which the PMLA came into effect.

Image: B Ramalinga Raju