The Andhra Pradesh Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) on Saturday arrested two senior PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) auditors — chief relationship partner S Gopalakrishnan and engagement leader Srinivas Taluri — in connection with the Rs 7,136-crore Satyam fraud. The police had picked them up on Friday night for questioning.
The two auditors were charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy. CB-CID sources said they were investigating if they accepted bribes from the Satyam management, and could be charged on that count too.
The arrests were made based on prime facie evidence collected by sleuths during raids at the PwC office in Hyderabad last week.
The sources said the arrested auditors allegedly connived with the top management of Satyam, led by chairman B. Ramalinga Raju, in carrying out the scam. PwC was Satyam’s auditor for six years.
In a statement, PwC said: “We regret that two partners were detained. We don’t know the basis for them being detained. Over the last fortnight, the firm has fully cooperated in all inquiries and has provided the documents called for by the authorities.”