Satyam chief quits under a cloud
Satyam Computer Services Ltd Chairman Ramalinga Raju resigned after saying he falsified earnings and assets, prompting a collapse in the stock of India's fourth-largest software services provider.
Raju unsuccessfully tried to sell two companies to Satyam last month in a final attempt to plug 50.4 billion rupees ($1.04 billion) of "fictitious" cash on the company's balance sheet, he wrote in a letter to Hyderabad-based Satyam's board yesterday. Profits have been inflated for "several years," he said.
Satyam, which means "truth" in Sanskrit, plunged in New York trading, after earlier dragging down India's benchmark index, in a scandal described as "horrifying" by markets regulator C.B.Bhave. Raju's reign unraveled in the past month as a shareholder revolt blocked the asset purchases, the World Bank banned Satyam from bidding for contracts and four directors quit.
