Indias government held out the possibility of bailing out Satyam Computer Services Ltd, even as the new board underlined its plans to put the firm back on track.
Meanwhile, former chairman B. Ramalinga Raju sought to take the entire blame for the countrys biggest corporate fraud onto himself and his brother and the companys former managing director Rama Raju; and the companys former chief financial officer (CFO) Srinivas Vadlamani sought to blame everyone but himself for the accounting and financial irregularities at the company.
On Monday, Indias apex body of accountants and audit firms, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) said it would set up a committee to investigate the role of Satyams auditor, Price Waterhouse, an arm of audit and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. One of the new directors appointed by the firm, Deepak Parekh, chairman of mortgage firm Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd, said, Only a restatement of accounts will show if the receivables have been overstated or if the debts have been understated. Also Read CFO Srinivas Vadlamanis confession Another, C. Achuthan, a lawyer who has served as the head of the tribunal that hears appeals against market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), said the board is also aggressively looking for a chief executive and CFO for Satyam.
Kiran Karnik, the former head of software industrys lobby group Nasscom, is the third director appointed by the government, which dissolved the companys board on Friday, two days after Raju wrote in a confessional letter that he had fudged the companys accounts to the tune of at least Rs7,136 crore.
Parekh said the government would soon appoint more directors after which the board would pick a chairman. He said it was the prerogative of shareholders to change the audit firm and that this could only be decided at a larger shareholder meeting. Meanwhile, commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath said that since Satyam Computer Services needs money, the government could consider extending help. The government, he added, would consider all aspects of helping the crisis-ridden company because it was a question of saving jobs and an international Indian brand.
The new board also sought an extension in announcing the financial results of the company for the three months ended 31 December because it could take some time to restate the accounts.
One of Satyams peers and rivals, Infosys Technologies Ltd, will announce its results for the quarter on Tuesday.
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