It's been 10 years since B Ramalinga Raju, former CEO and Chairman of Satyam Computers, first admitted to have inflated the company's revenue to attract investors. The scam sent shockwaves across the corporate sector and led to a series of policy changes in India.
The man behind the collapse of the tech giant is out on bail and is using his once celebrated entrepreneurial skills to mentor his sons and oversee family businesses.
Raju stepped down after admitting to embezzlement of financial figures to the tune of Rs 7,136 crore, including Rs 5,040 crore of non-existent cash and bank balances.
"He is as occupied as he was in his heyday when he was heading the fourth-largest software services company in the country," sources close to Raju told Business Standard. Although his public life shrunk significantly after he was convicted of fraud in 2015 by a Hyderabad court, he still meets people close to his family and business regularly at his Hyderabad home.
He has taken to research and reading following the case and avoids meeting people, reports suggest.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have attached close to 6,000 acres of Raju's properties, which can only be accessed by him if a higher court suspends his conviction. However, he reportedly owns land which have turned profitable with the surge in real estate prices in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Raju's family members have been "facing a lot of flak and are caught in the crossfire" even after the Supreme Court exonerated them from a case filed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), another report claimed.
Raju's immediate family members and their businesses are flourishing. The family is one of the richest in Hyderabad, with his older son and daughter-in-law running successful businesses in agriculture and healthcare, respectively.
