ICAI charges Vadlamani, Srinivas of misconduct

Three years after the multicrore Satyam accounting fraud came to light, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India on Thursday found the chief financial officer of the erstwhile Satyam Computer Services Ltd guilty of professional misconduct.

The ICAI also found Talluri Srinivas, partner, Price Waterhouse Coopers, then statutory auditors of Satyam guilty for not complying with professional standards. "The disciplinary committee in their proceedings found both Vadlamani and Talluri Srinivas guilty of professional misconduct. We will give them a final opportunity to defend themselves, based on which a final hearing will be issued during January," G Ramaswamy, president, ICAI told Express. He, however, declined comment on the nature of punishment for Vadlamani, who is not a practicing chartered accountant. "He worked in the industry but was not a practicing accountant. We will determine the punishment after the hearing," Ramaswamy explained.

Last month, the accountants regulator had barred two chartered accountants, Pulavarthi Siva Prasad and Chintapatla Ravindernath of Lovelock Lewes and slapped a penalty of `5 lakh each. The committee also ordered removal of their names from the Registers of Members permanently for gross negligence.