Satyam chiefs ‘took £1.2m before crash’

Executives at India's Satyam Computer Services grabbed $1.8 million (£1.2 million) from share sales in the six months before its stock collapsed amid accusations of fraud.

Nine officials led by chief financial officer V. Srinivas sold 267,358 shares from 14 July, according to Bombay Stock Exchange data.

Chairman Ramalinga Raju admitted last week to fabricating $1 billion of cash and assets, leading to an 83%, $2.2 billion plunge in Satyam's price. Srinivas was arrested three days ago, a day after Raju was arrested and the government sacked the Hyderabad firm's board.

In a letter, Raju said five other executives who sold shares were "unaware" of the alleged fraud.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office is to probe Raju's claims.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has set up a panel to examine Satyam and its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers' local unit.
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that it complied with India's accounting rules.