India’s Central Bureau of Investigation filed criminal charges against Ramalinga Raju, the founder of Satyam Computer Services Ltd.,

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation filed criminal charges against Ramalinga Raju, the founder of Satyam Computer Services Ltd., the software exporter at the center of the nation’s largest corporate fraud inquiry. Raju was indicted in the court of the 14th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Hyderabad on charges including criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and falsification of accounts, CBI Deputy Inspector General V. V. Lakshmi Narayana said by telephone today. A state-appointed board has put Satyam on sale to restore investor confidence and stem client and employee defections after Raju said Jan. 7 he inflated more than $1 billion of the company’s assets, triggering a 75 percent slump in the stock. Raju, who was arrested two days later, may face life in prison if convicted and more charges as federal investigators continue their probe, Narayana said. The maximum penalty is “imprisonment for life,” Narayana said. “We’ll keep on investigating and if anything comes up substantially we may file a supplementary charge-sheet also.”