Mar.28, 2010, 19:49 hrs

Hyderabad: In a startling revelation, a whistleblower has told CBI that the six bank accounts and fictitious firms that the company's disgraced Chairman B Ramalinga Raju had floated in London had were liquidated long before the scam came to light in January 2009, reports Sagar Kumar Mutha of Times News Network.

"The six companies and bank accounts which were operated from London were started in 1999 and closed down just before the listing of Satyam's American Depository Rights on New York Stock Exchange in May 2001. These accounts and fictitious firms were clearly part of Raju's modus operandi to divert Satyam scam money," whistleblower said. 

CBI sources said the whistleblower contacted the agency on his own and his statement is being currently recorded. "Since these benami accounts no longer exist, this person will be able to provide us valuable leads as to the trail of the money that were in these accounts," a CBI official said.

While CBI has not revealed the identity of the whistleblower, STOI has been able to gather that he is a Hyderabadi-origin UK national settled in London and was once associated with the company's UK operations. "CBI got acquainted with this individual while it was pursuing its investigations into suspected money laundering activities of Ramalinga Raju abroad," the official said and added some close family members and relatives of this mysterious individual still live in Hyderabad.