Here is what he could have gotten away with

• Spokesman: We refute the evidence. It is certainly not enough for taking punitive action against a CEO
• Spokesman: The fraud was perpetrated by non-company actors. Satyam is deeply commited to fighting and eradicating frauds
• Spokesman: We have arrested the criminals. They are all agents of Infosys (or Wipro, or TCS – take your pick) who were planted in the company to bring about bad reputation for us
• Diversionary measures: Start a proxy war on another front. Offer 90-day-no-charge consultants to all customers (especially clients with Infosys, TCS, Wipro et al as incumbent vendors). Threaten to extend this for 180 days if the focus doesn’t shift away from the CEO

Unfortunately the financial markets, even in their current state of shambles, is much less forgiving than the precarious political market place is.