Raju land may be twice estimates

Even as the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO) go about unravelling the biggest corporate fraud in the country, the land bank amassed by Ramalinga Raju, the jailed founder of Satyam Computer, and his family members has left the investigators amazed.

While the property documents seized during various search operations are still being put together, rough estimates show the land bank to be in excess of 15,000 acres.

Sources said investigators are working hard to understand the sources of funding for acquiring these chunks of land within and outside the country.

“It looks like the Rajus caught property mania. They have land everywhere and it is difficult for anyone to come to a clear understanding on the resources the family had deployed to acquire these properties,” said a source.

Raju’s family members are estimated to have over 5,000 acres in their names through various front companies floated by them.

Maytas Properties, a closely held company of the Rajus, is said to hold another 6,800 acres.

Investigators have also stumbled upon some documents, which show property in some unknown names.

“There are significant benami transactions too and we are still working on finding them out. However, the loads of documents and tracts of property the Rajus own only show that they had an exclusive team of people working only on buying land, getting it registered and taking care of the documents,” the source said.

Interestingly, DVGK Raju, the arrested general manager of SRSR Advisory Services, the consolidated land holding company, is said to have narrated the story behind the land buying spree and has already confessed to the police that he was the custodian of all the property documents.

“The key to the entire land buying episode of Ramalinga Raju is with his brother BSN Raju. Right now, we are looking for him and once he is taken into custody, we will get to know more details about the property dealings of the Rajus,” another source said.

The land dealings with Akula Rajaiah, a teacher turned trader, are making the story murkier with Rajaiah gaining notoriety for illegally “buying” the land from tribals and other poorer sections of the society at cheaper rates and selling them in the open market. “Most of the properties Rajaiah dealt with are not legally valid since he bought and sold assigned land. These lands are given to the poor for agriculture by the government and they can’t be sold. The authorities are currently looking at the way Raju bought these lands and got them transferred despite knowing that the land can’t be sold or bought,” another source in the government explained.

The SFIO too is said to be looking at the way the land deals have led to the entire Satyam scam and the diversion of Satyam funds into properties. The Stamps and Registrations department of Andhra Pradesh has already prepared a list of known transactions in the name of the Rajus, their front companies and some more individuals acting on behalf of Raju. The list has been given out to the SFIO officials.

Interestingly, the authorities are yet to lay their hands on documents related to the property of Maytas Properties, which was to be bought by Satyam for Rs 6,500 crore.

“All documents in possession of the authorities are only of the Rajus, their front companies and persons acting in concert. The officials are still in search of documents of Maytas Properties,” another source said.

In fact, the valuation of the properties that have been found so far is on beyond the logic of simple arithmetic and the officials are still working hard to find out the modus operandi used for buying such huge chunks of land.

“Even if we take the total holding, including that of Maytas Properties, at 10,000 acres, that should require at least Rs 5,000 crore. Even if Raju is one of the richest in the state, it would be impossible for him to pump in that fund on his own. There are other sources of funding and they have to be found out to unravel the mystery,” the source said.

So far, properties have been found in the names of everyone in Raju’s family, including his mother Appala Narsamma, wife Nandini Raju and others.