Upaid seeks deposition of Satyam executives

Upaid seeks deposition of Satyam executives

Says Satyam's poor corporate governance has harmed customers

Friday, December 19, 2008

LONDON, INDIA: British online and mobile payment services provider Upaid Systems announced on Thursday that it is filing a motion in Collin County, Texas district court requesting depositions of Satyam Computer Services' chairman, chief financial officer and global head of corporate governance.

The motion is in connection with the alleged attempt on the part of Satyam earlier this week to strip all surplus cash from the company in a $1.6 billion related-party transaction benefiting the family of Satyam’s founder and chairman, said a press release.

Satyam is already facing suits in U.S. Federal and State Courts filed by Upaid claiming fraud, forgery and breach of contract, as a result of which Upaid has suffered damages to its business and prospects in excess of $1 billion.

The existing case against Satyam filed by Unpaid is for providing it forged documents which were used to get patents in USA.

Satyam had told that it always did the right thing and will defend its innocence in court. The Federal Court proceeding is currently scheduled for a Texas jury trial in June of 2009, and Satyam is facing the potential of a very sizable judgment against it, the Unpaid release claimed.

At present, Satyam has cash resources to pay a $1 billion plus judgment or the liquidity to support a supersedeas bond, it added.

However, on December 16, 2008, Satyam announced a plan to strip $1.6 billion of cash out of the company, an amount that exceeds its cash, in a transaction to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra, whereby the large majority of this cash would go to the family of Satyam's Chairman, Ramalinga Raju.

The Satyam executives whose depositions are being requested are Ramalinga Raju, (Chairman) Srivinas Valdamani (CFO) and G. Jayaraman, (Global Head - Corporate Governance).

The evidence of Satyam's poor corporate governance and business practices has been mounting, harming Upaid, other customers and now Satyam's shareholders, Unpaid alleged.

Satyam had called off the $1.6 billion deal to acquire Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties, owned by Raju’s son, following the opposition from investors.

©CyberMedia News

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Manu said on 12/19/2008 6:52:43 PM:
Its better, sometimes to leave spell check off. The company is "Upaid", not "Unpaid" as in 4 occurances through this small article. Donno where Satyam is going, these days, though.

to Manu