MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 16, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Charles H. Johnson & Associates announces that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. ("Satyam" or the "Company") (NYSE:SAY) publicly traded securities during the period January 6, 2004 through January 6, 2009 (the "Class Period").
If you are a member of the proposed Class, you may move the Court to serve as a lead plaintiff for the Class on or before March 9, 2009. You do not need to be a lead plaintiff in order to share in any recovery that may be obtained.
On January 7, 2009, the Company's Chairman, B. Ramalinga Raju, sent a letter to the Satyam Board of Directors and the Securities & Exchange Board of India acknowledging a multi-year fraud in which Satyam's financial accounts and disclosures were systematically falsified, its profits were overstated for the past several years, the debt owed to the Company was overstated and its liability understated. Further, B. Ramalinga Raju admitted to having inflated the amount of cash on the Company's balance sheet by nearly $1 billion and overstating Satyam's September 2008 quarterly revenues by 76% and profits by 97 percent, and that 50.4 billion rupees, or $1.04 billion, of the 53.6 billion rupees in cash and bank loans the Company listed in assets for its second quarter, which ended in September 2008, were nonexistent. The Chairman's letter described the scheme as a small discrepancy that grew beyond his control: "What started as a marginal gap between actual operating profit and the one reflected in the books of accounts continued to grow over the years. It has attained unmanageable proportions as the size of company operations grew," he wrote. "It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten."
On January 7, 2009, the Company announced that Ram Myanpati, President and whole-time director of Satyam, is acting as interim CEO pending ratification by the Board. Also on January 7, DSP Merrill Lynch Limited, which had been previously retained by Satyam to assist a review of the Company's strategic options, terminated its engagement with Satyam, prompted by the disclosure of "material accounting irregularities."
If you purchased ADSs of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. during the Class Period, or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights with respect to this matter, please contact:
Neal Eisenbraun, Esq. (cjohnsonlaw@gmail.com)
Charles H. Johnson & Associates
2599 Mississippi Street
New Brighton, MN 55112
(651) 633-5685