SEC seeks India's permission to probe Satyam

NEW DELHI: The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency to regulate the securities industry in that country, has reportedly sought India's permission to probe the multi-million dollar Satyam fraud case.

"A team of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested permission from the Indian government and the CBI to probe the Satyam case," a PTI report quoted CBI Director Ashwani Kumar as saying.

The Satyam scandal was surfaced following the confession of founder chairman Ramalinga Raju about the financial fraud in the company. Following this the CBI was entrusted with the investigation of the corporate scandal, which recently got permission to conducted lie detector test on Raju and others.

Despite the scandal the shares of Satyam (now renamed Mahindra Satyam) made a surprise surge recently, following the reports that the company had performed well during the October-December quarter.

Meanwhile, another report said that Maytas Infra Ltd, linked to fraud-hit Satyam, has decided to sell part of its stake in two expressway projects to generate liquidity.