Infosys whistleblower probe to be completed by January

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Infosys is hoping to conclude its investigation into the whistleblower complaint against CEO Salil Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy by December or January, a person familiar with the process told Moneycontrol.

“The internal investigations should be ready by the time third-quarter earnings are announced in January, we feel at this time,” this person said.

Infosys has retained the law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas to conduct the investigation. As reported by Moneycontrol on November 10, the software services company is talking to law firms JSA Law and Khaitan & Co to also appoint one or both to assist in the probe.

Other than the investigation announced by the Bengaluru-based company, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also started a probe, Infosys has said.

“We don’t know how long that is going to take, but we’re on standby for anything any regulator wants from us,” the source said.

The whistleblowers have made a series of allegations against Parekh and Roy, including that they window-dressed accounts, insisted that visa costs not be recognised and that key information be concealed from the board and auditors. There are also 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.’

Infosys says it does not have the evidence that the whistleblowers, who call themselves “ethical employees”, submitted to the SEC in the form of emails and voice recordings.

Apart from establishing the truth or otherwise of the allegations, Moneycontrol has learnt that one of the key objectives of the company is to find a permanent solution to the problem of whistleblower complaints finding their way into media, ending up in public embarrassment and causing reputational damage.