By IANS,
Hyderabad : A city court Saturday extended the judicial custody of disgraced founder and former chairman of Satyam Computer Services B. Ramalinga Raju and three other accused in the firm’s massive scam to Feb 7.
Sixth additional chief metropolitan magistrate D. Ramakrishna extended the custody of Ramalinga Raju, his brother and former managing director B. Rama Raju and former chief financial officer (CFO) Vadlamani Srinivas by a week.
The accused, lodged at Chanchalguda central jail, were not physically produced before the magistrate, who conducted the proceedings through video linkage between the court and the jail.
All the four are facing charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy, falsification of records and forgery in Rs.70 billion (Rs.7,000 crore/$1.43 billion) Satyam fraud case.
The magistrate also extended the judicial custody of D. Gopalakrishnam Raju, general manager of SRSR Advisory Services, a company promoted by Ramalinga Raju to manage his stakes in Satyam.
Crime Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the massive fraud, produced Gopalakrishnam Raju before the magistrate as his two-day police custody came to an end Saturday.
He was sent back to jail after the court extended his judicial custody.
CID grilled Gopalakrishnam Raju for two days and reportedly obtained vital information with regard to the property and land dealings of Ramalinga Raju and his family. The police also claimed that he had tried to destroy documentary evidence after the arrest of Raju brothers.
Meanwhile, Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has once again approached the magistrate for permission to record statements of Ramalinga Raju and Srinivas. SFIO filed a fresh petition as its earlier petition was not admitted by the court for not filing it under relevant provisions.
The matter will come up for hearing Monday, the day on which the magistrate will pronounce orders on the bail petition of two former partners of Price Waterhouse, the firm which audited the accounts of Satyam.