Latest Massive Fraud: Satyam Found To Be Swimming Naked

from the tide-goes-out dept

Warren Buffet's famous quote is that "It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked." Over the past few months, the tide has been going out with a vengeance, and we're certainly discovering plenty of folks swimming naked. The latest, of course, is Satyam, the Indian tech company whose CEO admitted that he basically has been making up the company's financial reports for years. It turns out that about $1 billion in cash the company claimed it had... don't actually exist. That's a pretty big problem, because that $1 billion represented about 94% of all the cash the company claimed to have. Oops. It makes you wonder what, exactly, Satyam's auditors have been up to the past few years.

This might explain why the company attempted to do a highly controversial merger deal last month, where Satyam tried to buy construction firms Maytas (Satyam backwards), owned by the sons of Satyam's founders. The deal between companies in two obviously unrelated industries seemed like a pretty clear cash grab for the family -- except most people didn't realize that the cash grab was actually to cover up all the lies on the financial statements.

Of course, there are some amusing side notes to this whole thing. Just a few months ago, for example, Satyam was awarded the "prestigious" Golden Peacock award for (of all things) corporate governance. That award is now being stripped away, but it seems a little late for that. Then, of course, there was the stock analyst who claimed that Satyam was an obvious buy just after the original merger deal fell apart. Considering that the stock dropped 90% today, that seems like an awfully bad call.

Anyway, as with any downturn, it's no surprise that some of the scammers are being outed. It certainly doesn't mean that all companies are scamming, but it is a reminder that unless you're personally involved, it's pretty tough to take a company's word on what it's actually been doing with its money.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: fraud
Companies: maytas, satyam


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Joe Smith, 7 Jan 2009 @ 4:28pm

    corruption

    One is tempted to make a snide remark about India's famously corrupt society but given what has been happening on Wall Street we have no right to feel superior (at least not until we've put ten thousand Wall Street bankers and stock brokers in in prison where they belong.)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      gaurav, 20 Sep 2009 @ 11:39pm

      Re: corruption

      gud dude that u thought about ur own wall street before making any remark on our society.
      one thing more our culture is one of the best culture in the world

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Fsm, 7 Jan 2009 @ 4:47pm

    Fooled!

    I clicked this link with the words "swimming naked" running through my imagination.

    ...

    I was fooled!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      noone_important, 7 Jan 2009 @ 5:02pm

      Re: Fooled!

      yeah, i was really hoping for some NSFW links ... oh well.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Cine Valley, 8 Jan 2009 @ 2:28am

        Re: Re: Fooled!

        for that you folks need to go to any beach in Bombay.

        All those who sold their last shirt & bought Satyam scrip are left with nothing to wear ;)

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Hyrulio, 7 Jan 2009 @ 5:40pm

    What's to say...

    ... that this hasn't been happening worldwide for years?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike (profile), 7 Jan 2009 @ 6:59pm

      Re: What's to say...

      ... that this hasn't been happening worldwide for years?

      Nothing. We're saying it obviously *has* been happening worldwide for years. That was the point of the post...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    stockresearch52, 7 Jan 2009 @ 7:57pm

    satyams corporate fraud

    Satyam's episode is a blot on Indian IT industry.Where are the so called audit experts and government rules and regulations?The end result is Employees lost their bread.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Cecil, 7 Jan 2009 @ 7:59pm

    Fooled as well...

    I was expecting nude swimming shots of some Russian model I'd not heard of. Sarah Satyamovich or something.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Brav, 7 Jan 2009 @ 8:10pm

    Will Satyam Come Back

    What should each Satyams' Employee should do next to save himself and to save investor?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rajkumari, 7 Jan 2009 @ 9:28pm

    shcked , feared and frightened!

    as on of the employees of satyam , I strongly feel that it was one man's fault for whatever the reason may be, but as an organisation, it has the capablity to emerge as a leader once again , all we need is the support, in terms of finances, especially from the government,
    if it happens, we can prove our strength.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rajkumari, 7 Jan 2009 @ 9:28pm

    shcked , feared and frightened!

    as on of the employees of satyam , I strongly feel that it was one man's fault for whatever the reason may be, but as an organisation, it has the capablity to emerge as a leader once again , all we need is the support, in terms of finances, especially from the government,
    if it happens, we can prove our strength.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      nasch, 8 Jan 2009 @ 9:51am

      Re: shcked , feared and frightened!

      Yes great idea, reward fraud with government funds!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Ramesh Srivats, 7 Jan 2009 @ 10:26pm

    The trial of the chairman of Satyam

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Dan, 8 Jan 2009 @ 12:00am

    Behold the king's new cloths! It seems the crooks are on Wall Street, not Las Vegas.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Lunatic, 8 Jan 2009 @ 1:24am

    Inside Satyam

    To know the latest happening inside satyam, log on to my blog at www.satyam-news.blogspot.com

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Khan, 8 Jan 2009 @ 4:47am

    Satyam's fraud

    Satyam's fraud and moral of the story would be to keep off from the seemingly big 'corporate' sharks. One is easily lured to invest in such ventures but the end result is either bankruptcy or fraud. Satyam in Asia and Lehman Bro. in West should serve as best examples for investors.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Sports Player, 9 Jan 2009 @ 1:04am

    There's no way he was acting alone. Not possible to cook financial reports without the connivance of the top management.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Hyrulio, 9 Jan 2009 @ 4:13pm

    Hahahaha

    From the linked article - "Satyam means 'truth' is Sanskrit"

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Guesswho, 11 Jan 2009 @ 2:18am

    Its a BIG game

    Satyam's scam is a very small one when compared to the ongoing global economic recession by Israelis or Jews.

    Believe me or not, its all because of the dirty games being played by Jews....

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.