HYDERABAD: The Economic Offences Court on Thursday convicted and sentenced to imprisonment ranging from six months to one year 84 directors of 19 companies floated by the relatives and friends of Satyam Computers founder B Ramalinga Raju .Ramalinga Raju’s wife Nandini Raju, sons Teja and Rama, and the wives of Ramalinga Raju’s younger brothers were among those convicted for evading paying income tax of around Rs 30 crore relating to the Maytas Hill County housing project. The 19 companies had declared they had generated income through the sale of 90 acres of land and apartments.Special judge M Laxman suspended the sentence for a month to enable the convicted persons to seek remedial legal measures. Those convicted were directed to furnish sureties to avail of this facility.While all the male directors were sentenced to a one-year jail term and ordered to pay a penalty of Rs 10,000, the female directors were sentenced to six months in jail and asked to pay a similar penalty. All of them paid the penalty and furnished the sureties after the pronouncement of the order.According to A Ramakrishna Reddy, counsel for the income-tax department that filed the case against the 19 front companies of Ramalinga Raju for IT Act violations, the Satyam founder’s kin and friends who floated these firms had the means to pay the tax but chose not to pay.The companies are: Naagavali Green Lands Pvt Ltd, Gomati Agro Farms, Nallamala Agro Farms, Chitravathy Agro Farms, Goman Agro Farms, Kanchanganga Green Lands, Himagiri Green Fields, Konar Green Lands, Himagiri Biotech Private Ltd, Medravathy Agro Farms, Sindhu Green Lands, Swarnagiri Fields, Vindhya Green Lands, Waradha Green Fields, Yamuna Agro Farms, Vamsadhara Agro Pvt Ltd, Parbati Agro Farms, Uttarashada Biotech Ltd and Swarnamukhi Green Fields.These companies, still being headed by Ramalinga Raju’s relatives and friends, made money by entering into a development-cum-sale agreement with Maytas Hill County. Many of the convicted persons doubled as directors of quite a few of the 19 firms.