Satyam asks US court to enforce Upaid settlement

MUMBAI - Satyam Computer Services has asked a county court in New York, US, to ensure that its $70 million settlement with the London-based online and mobile payment services firm Upaid Systems is validated and enforced.

In a regulatory filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Satyam said it has already deposited the $70 million, based on the settlement agreement with Upaid, into an escrow account and said it owned nothing more to the London-based company.

Upaid had filed lawsuits against Satyam in 2007 to claim $1 billion in damages after it came to its notice that the Indian firm had allegedly forged signatures of some employees to enable it secure a patent for mobile prepaid technology.

In 2008, it had also sought depositions of Satyam founder B. Ramalinga Raju in a Texas district court, after the Hyderabad firm made an aborted bid to buy out promoter group companies Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra.

Upaid said the bid was to divert funds out of Satyam so that no money is left in its coffers should the Indian company lose its lawsuit.

Subsequently, Tech Mahindra, the IT arm of the Mahindra and Mahindra, acquired Satyam in April 2009 after Raju stunned the corporate India in January 2009 by confessing to a multi-billion accounting fraud.

Satyam has also asked the US court to make Upaid solely responsible for any tax liability arising out of the escrow account, and ensure that any deduction, if required, be restricted to the $70 million that has already been deposited.