As the truth about Satyam Computers accounting discrepancies emerged, two Mumbai investors shocked at their Rs 10 lakh lossfiled a complaint on Wednesday with the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), New Delhi, seeking an enquiry against PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for the auditing fraud.
Shaunak Sayta and Kunjal Punamiya, Napean Sea Road residents, who jointly owned stocks in the once blue-chip company, lost no time in approaching their lawyer Hitesh Jain to shoot off complaint letters to SFIO, the disciplinary committee at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, PwC and two of its partners in Hyderabad. SFIO had been set up in the wake of several stock market scams and vanishing companies in 2003 by the union ministry of corporate affairs to investigate serious corporate frauds.
"The investors are feeling cheated. We came across various lapses and oversight which have been overlooked by PwC and its partners Srinivas Talluri and S Gopalkrishnan in connivance with the management of Satyam Computer Services, while auditing the companys books," the investors said. They said if an inflated cash balance to the tune of Rs 5,040 crore escapes the eye of the auditor, it raises serious questions regarding the involvement of PwC in orchestrating such a huge fraud in connivance with people in management.
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