People at the top echelons of Infosys believe that a cofounder of the company and a former senior executive conspired with the whistleblowers who have made allegations of corporate governance failures involving Chief Executive Officer Salil Parekh.
Moneycontrol has learnt that those inquiring into the allegations are also convinced that the whistleblowers, who call themselves “ethical employees,” acted in concert with the cofounder and the former senior executive.
The perceived involvement of the outside duo has enraged several people connected to the company, including those close to the board.
“This was a terrorist attack involving a mastermind (with) a link to the company and those who executed the attack,” a source aware of the deliberations at Infosys said.
The whistleblowers have made a series of allegations against Parekh and chief financial officer Nilanjan Roy. In addition to writing to the company, the whistleblowers say they have presented evidence to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in the form of recordings and emails.
Infosys’ shares fell by 16% on October 22, when the allegations became public, causing a drop of Rs 53,000 crore in investor wealth.
The emails and recordings, the whistleblowers claim, show that Parekh and Roy window-dressed accounts, insisted that visa costs not be recognised and insisted that key information be concealed from the board and auditors.
Other than these, there are claims that billions of dollars in deals were signed with zero margins and that Parekh referred to two of the independent directors as ‘madrasis’ and one of them as a ‘diva.’
On Monday, Infosys said in a statement that it was not able to determine the credibility of the allegations in the absence of evidence. On Wednesday, Infosys holds a previously scheduled meeting of investors and analysts, where the question of the whistleblower complaint is bound to be on top of the mind.
The Bengaluru-based company, India’s second-largest software services provider, has appointed Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas to investigate the allegations.
A company source said that the aim of the investigation is to establish if there is truth in what the whistleblowers claim. If the allegations are true, the company is determined to act against whoever is found guilty.
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