The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has asked promoters of Satyam Computer Services (SCSL) to disgorge ₹624 crore of unlawful gains, along with simple interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from January 7, 2009 till the date of payment.

The unlawful gains will have to be borne individually by B Ramalinga Raju (former chairman of SCSL), B Rama Raju (former managing director), B Suryanarayana Raju, SRSR Holdings and two other entities. The first three individuals are brothers and SRSR Holdings is a private limited company which is controlled by the Raju family.

SEBI’s fourth order in November 2018 had pegged the unlawful gains at ₹813 crore. The gains have now been recalculated after excluding shares sold prior to February 20, 2002 and removing clerical errors.

The first two noticees have been barred from accessing the securities market till July 14, 2028. No such debarment has been imposed on B Suryanarayana Raju, SRSR Holdings (entity promoted by Satyam’s promoters), V Srinivas (ex-CFO) and G Ramkrishna (ex-Vice President—Finance).

Debarment

The 2018 order had set a debarment period of 14 years for B Ramalinga Raju and B Rama Raju from July 15, 2014 and for 14 years from September 10, 2015 for B Suryanarayana Raju and SRSR Holdings.

Earlier this year, the Securities Appellate Tribunal had remanded the matter back to SEBI, and asked it to recalculate the unlawful gains and reconsider the ban on the promoters.

SEBI had first initiated an investigation into SCSL after its chairman admitted to manipulating books of accounts. The investigation revealed that B Suryanarayana Raju had sold shares between January 2001 and December 2008 when in possession of unpublished price sensitive information about the adverse financial position of the company.

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