Mahindra Satyam to challenge ED order over fixed deposits attachment

IT services provider Mahindra Satyam, erstwhile Satyam Computer, yesterday said it would challenge the order of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for attachment of  its fixed deposits worth Rs822 crore in connection with a money laundering case related to the previous management of the company.

Tech Mahindra, after it acquired scandal hit Satyam renamed it Mahindra Satyam in 2009.

Earlier this month, the ED issued attachment orders and froze the fixed deposits of Mahindra Satyam in connection with its probe into the case of money laundering by its previous management headed by B Ramalinga Raju.

According to the ED, the investigations revealed that Raju and his associates "wrongfully" offloaded inflated shares of the said company by way of sale or pledging of shares.

Mahindra Satyam chairman, Vineet Nayyar said, the compay would file an appeal challenging the order. He added the money which was claimed by Raju to have been brought in had already been spent when the company was taken over.

"In fact the situation was so bad, when the government directors were appointed, they had to borrow Rs450 crore to pay salaries in USA. The money, which was never available to us, cannot be seen as debt on us," Nayyar said in a press conference after announcing company's second quarter results.