Infosys in the news

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https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/technology/infosys-investigates-alleged-unethical-practices-by-top-officials

 

INFOSYS Ltd said it was investigating whistleblower claims accusing its top two executives of "unethical practices" to boost short-term profit, sending its shares to their worst intraday fall in over six years.

The allegations were part of a letter dated Sept 20, seen by Reuters, which said chief executive officer Salil Parekh and chief financial officer Nilanjan Roy engaged in forced revenue recognition from large contracts and did not adhere to accounting standards.

Chairman Nandan Nilekani said in a statement on Tuesday that India's No2 software services exporter placed the complaints before the audit committee on Oct 10, and before the non-executive members of the board on Oct 11.

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Looks like financial irregularities will result in a slap on the wrist and a small fine. 

No one ever goes to jail for this if agree to settle most times.

 

Bengaluru: Former Cognizant COO Sridhar Thiruvengadam has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $50,000 following a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) order, which found that four company executives, including the former, authorised a bribe payment in a video-conference, which violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The case relates to Cognizant’s 2.7-million-sqft KITS campus on Old Mahabalipuram Road in Chennai that planned to employ 17,500 people. A senior government official of Tamil Nadu demanded a $2-million bribe from the construction firm responsible for the campus. The bribery exposed Cognizant to civil and criminal liability with the company paying $25 million in penalties as well as incurring $79 million more in costs related to its internal investigation.

The SEC order said Thiruvengadam devised a scheme to cover it up in the company’s books. Thiruvengadam was Cognizant’s COO from late 2013 until he was placed on administrative leave in late 2016. Cognizant accepted Thiruvengadam’s resignation last year.

The SEC order states that Thiruvengadam later helped to conceal the payment by signing false sub-certifications. It found that Thiruvengadam violated the FCPA’s internal accounting controls and record-keeping provisions. “Without admitting or denying the findings, Thiruvengadam agreed to pay a civil penalty of $50,000,” the order said.

A lawsuit filed by a group of investors on July 27 had put the spotlight on two of its former top executives — former president Gordon Coburn and former chief legal officer Steven E Schwartz. Coburn and Schwartz channelled payments to L&T, the construction company responsible for the KITS campus.

The lawsuit alleged that to disguise Cognizant’s repayment to L&T of the bribes the latter paid to government officials, Schwartz and Coburn agreed that L&T would submit many fraudulent change order requests at the end of the project totalling $2 million.

TOI has seen a copy of the order that said Cognizant engaged the contracting firm to build the facility and obtain all necessary government permits.