Mahindra Satyam has refused to consider the Rs 1,230 crore shown as ‘suspense account’ as a liability.
Vineet Nayyar, Chairman of Mahindra Satyam, lost his cool at the annual general meeting (AGM) here on Friday when some investors, including IL&FS, demanded that this amount should be shown as a liability.
Amount in question
The amount in question was the alleged advances by the firms promoted by Ramalinga Raju’s kin to Satyam.
“The source of the said amount is the result of a crime. It is based on money laundering. Law enforcing agencies are investigating it. So, it can’t be considered a loan. The loan amount is so big. Why the (then) board had not passed a resolution on this? How did they (the firms that sought repayment of loans) raise that kind of money? What is the source?” he asked, while pointing out that the issue is in courts.
A representative of IL&FS, which bought the Raju kin-promoted Maytas Infra, has demanded that the Rs 1,230 crore, which was kept under suspense account, be shown as a liability.
“We have been raising this issue for three years. The entire amount came through cheques and through the banking system,” he said.
On the swap ratio, Nayyar said the company had nothing to do with fixing it. “Two top accounting firms (E&Y and KPMG) arrived at it. We got a Fairness Opinion done by JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley. The Board has accepted it completely without changing a comma,” he said.
He hinted that this, perhaps, would be the last AGM to be held in Hyderabad. When an investor raised a question on this, he said, “Yes. We are shifting the headquarters to Mumbai.”
Tech Mahindra deposits
Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer Vasanth Krishnan said it had deposited some funds from the cash reserves (about Rs 3,000 crore) with Tech Mahindra in the form of ICDs (Inter Corporate Deposits) in June. “We thought this will give us maximum returns. It is up to them how they use them,” he said.
He refused to divulge the quantum of funds parked as ICDs. Tech Mahindra said it would use Mahindra Satyam financial resources to fund the acquisition of Hutch’s BPO arm it announced early this week.