The allegations from the public prosecutor in a criminal court in Hyderabad, southern India, represent the first time the authorities have revealed the results of their investigations since India's worst fraud first came to light more than two weeks ago.
The public prosecutor's arguments contradict a confession letter from the former chairman, B. Ramalinga Raju, to his board in which he said he had manipulated the company's accounts to dress up poor performance but had never stolen money.
The public prosecutor of the state of Andhra Pradesh, Gangaraj Prasad, told the Financial Times: “The number of employees at Satyam Computer stands at 40,000 and not 53,000 as claimed by the company.”