Satyam founder 'inflated payroll'

The disgraced founder and former chairman of Satyam Computers Services Inc used his elderly mother's name to siphon $1 billion from the company and drastically inflated the number of employees to divert funds, a prosecutor said in court yesterday.

The allegations cast serious doubt on B. Ramalinga Raju's claims that the massive fraud was an elaborate attempt to keep the company afloat and that he did not personally benefit from the scandal.

Prosecutor Ajay Kumar also said Raju was involved in as many as 400 suspicious land deals in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where Satyam is based.