Ghotala.in

Only SEBI can get to the core of Satyam fraud

There is now a widespread perception that the investigation of the mega fraud at Satyam Computers could have political ramifications. There is a feeling that politicians in high places could be mixed up, even if indirectly, in some of the commercial activities of Ramlingaraju’s family.

Real estate is not only the last bastion of control for the politician in this country, it also acts as a sustainable source of funding for political activity. And it is quite apparent now that Raju and his family were moving into real estate/infrastructure projects in a big way.

Consequently, there is also an impression that the investigation by Andhra CID into such a sophisticated white-collar crime may be totally inadequate. One recalls how a big team of special investigators of economic offences were deployed to unravel the Harshad Mehta scam in the early nineties.

Hundreds of documents relating to sophisticated broker-banker transaction used to come loaded in a jeep. Specialists in economic offences at the CBI used to find it difficult to decipher evidence buried in those tomes. They sought help of private bankers and other market experts.

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