New York: Ramalinga Raju, former chairman of
Satyam Computers, who last year confessed to have inflated his
company's assets by over USD one billion, was declared a
pauper by a court here exempting him from paying court costs.
New York judge Barabara S Jones approved 'pauper' status
for Raju, his brother Rama Raju, Satyam's former chief
executive officer, and Srinivas Vadlamani, the company's
former head of finance.
In October 2009, the defendants filed an "in forma
pauperis" and for the appointment for a pro bono counsel.
According to court documents, the accused stated they are
"unable to engage an attorney in the US to defend (themselves)
in the class action litigation and to pay any court fees or to
meet any financial obligations which might be imposed by this
court".
"The court finds that defendants have adequately
demonstrated that they are unable to pay costs as described in
the federal law," US District Judge Jones said.
The judge however denied the request for a pro bono
counsel as the "defendants are incarcerated in a foreign
country and it would be unusually difficult for the appointed
counsel to meet and otherwise competently represent Defendants
under the circumstances".
On 7 January 2009, Raju, 55, admitted that Satyam's
accounts had been falsified by over USD one billion, in what
became India's largest corporate scandal.
In November, the CBI said that fraud was 40 per cent
larger than originally estimated. The former CEO of Satyam is
being held in India.
"It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off
without being eaten," he said, after the scandal broke. The IT
company was taken over by Tech Mahindra.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 28, 2010, 09:16