Prominent auditing firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited has admitted before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that it had fudged the accounts of Jagathi Publications, the media house owned by YSR Congress Party president Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, to help him sell the shares of his company to high-profile investors at a huge premium of Rs.350 for a share of Rs.10.
On Wednesday, Deloitte senior director P. N. Sudarshan admitted before the CBI that he had jacked up the value of Jagathi Publications by Rs.1,000 crore - from Rs.2,500 crore to Rs.3,500 crore - for its five-year business plan period at the request of the company's vice-chairman and Jagan's personal auditor V. Vijay Sai Reddy in April 2008.
This is the second instance of a multinational audit firm fudging the account books of a company in recent times. Over two years ago, another multinational audit company - PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), India - had cooked the account books of Satyam Computer Services in an estimated fraud of Rs.14,000 crore.
Ironically, the actual value of Jagathi Publications, as assessed by Chennai-based auditor J. Prabhakar of Jagadeesan & Company in July 2007 was just Rs.196 crore. And the company, which was projected to grow into Rs.3,500-crore media house in a five-year period, had actually accumulated losses to the extent of Rs.319.84 crore by March 31, 2010.
The CBI authorities recorded the statement of Sudarshan as a witness under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, in the presence of a magistrate.
According to the CBI sources, Sudarshan had admitted to over-valuation of Jagathi Publications by at least Rs.1,000 crore, as part of an internal understanding with Vijay Sai Reddy, the No. 2 accused in Jagan's illegal assets case. He told the CBI authorities that Deloitte had prepared the five-year business plan for Jagathi Publications in April 2008, based on the investment projections and estimated revenue inflow into the publication. The company is said to have estimated the business plan at Rs.2,500 crore.
He reportedly said in his statement that Vijay Sai Reddy had requested him to revise the business plan by jacking up the value of Jagathi Publications to Rs.3,500 cr. Apparently, Reddy told the Deloitte official that the revised figure was only for internal audit purpose.
He also wanted that the revised business plan should be given with a back date - November 16, 2007.
Accordingly, the Deloitte had prepared the revised business plan.
Sudarshan is said to have told the CBI authorities that the Jagathi Publications had misused the revised plan by making it public and projecting it before the prospective investors in the company.
The figure of Rs.2,500 crore itself was exaggerated, compared to the actual worth of the company at Rs.196 crore, as projected in the actual valuation report prepared by Jagadeesan & Company on July 12, 2007. This auditor also projected the value of Indira Television (that brings out Sakshi television channel) at Rs.185 crore.
Sources said the CBI had questioned Sudarshan following the deposition of various high-profile investors including Matrix Prasad, Aurobindo Pharma, Hetero Drugs, Penna Cements, Jubilee Media etc., who had put in huge amounts in Jagathi Publications. All of them had told the CBI authorities that they had made investments by paying a huge premium of Rs.350 per share only after being convinced by the business plan prepared by Deloitte.
In its FIR lodged in the court, the CBI alleged that the investors had put in their money in Jagathi Publications at a high premium only as a quid pro quo to the benefits doled out to them by Jagan's father Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2009.
The CBI has established that most of these investors had been allotted land, special economic zones, irrigation contracts and infrastructure projects during the YSR regime.
The I-T department, which had investigated into the illegal flow of investments into Jagan's media house last year, also made a similar observation. In a notice served on Jagan last year, the I-T officials pointed out that the Deloitte business plan was exaggerated.
The notice said the auditing firm had not carried out any market survey, financial feasibility study or any other empirical study as regards the Jagathi Publications. The business plan was not in the nature of audit or due diligence of the company and was prepared essentially on information given by the management. "No tests were carried out to establish the accuracy of statements and information provided by the company. There is no scientific basis for the projections made as regards revenues of Jagathi Publications. They failed to justify the valuations, for the simple reason that the company was yet to commence its publication," the I-T report, a copy which is available with Mail Today, said.
The fact that the Jagathi Publications was suffering huge losses (cumulative loss of Rs319.84 crore as on March 31, 2010) and consequently, the share capital has substantially eroded, clearly indicates that the valuation reports were unrealistic, overoptimistic and not based on real appreciation of the facts, the I-T report said.
"As per the valuation report, the projected growth potential is moderate. If at all there is any gain, it may be only in the long term with moderate growth rather than in the short-term. Whether the shareholders would even earn the simple interest at bank rates of eight to nine per cent is doubtful. Thus, the gains or profits within the short time were not the cause of payment of the huge premium amount," the I-T report said.
Noted auditor and former executive director of Hyderabad Stock Exchange S. Sarveshwar Reddy said: "We are not aware how Deloitte had projected the value of Jagathi Publications at Rs3,500 crore, though its net worth was only Rs196 crore. It should have been a prudent estimate."