BLOWING THE WHISTLE, ONCE TOO OFTEN...

2013

Infosys investigation to end agrees a United related to pay States to $34 the million widespread practice of Indian firms of flying workers to client sites in the US on temporary visas. The settlement, according to the US Justice Department, was the largest in a case of alleged civil fraud over visas.

The case had been brought to light by whistle-blower Jack

Palmer in 2011.

The Justice Department had alleged that Infosys knowingly and unlawfully sent people to work without proper visas and that there were alleged widespread the deceive company record-keeping failures U.S. consular reportedly in the and company’s officials tried that to with which false tell the “invitation government letters”, the purpose of travel.

Infosys agreed in the settlement that it committed civil violations of US employment law but that it was not required to admit and did not admit to further wrongdoing. “Infosys denies and disputes any claims of systemic visa fraud, misuse of visas for competitive advantage or immi- gration abuse. Those claims are untrue and are assertions that remain unproven,” said the company in a statement. R Seshasayee, former non-exec- utive Chairman

2017

A whistleblower alleged profiteering from Panaya, a $200 mil- lion acquisition by the company.

Described by then CEO Vishal

Sikka, the first non-founder to assume that position, as one of his alleged greatest the the “current whistleblower, strategic board,” achievements, had described them as dud investments. These claims had been rubbished by Sikka. The whistle- blower then filed complaints with SEBI and the Board of the company. The whistleblower alleged that shareholders’ approval had not been obtained for paying Rajiv Bansal a severance package that was 30 times more than required. “That is a big blatant violation of every principle of corporate governance... it is a violation of the

SEBI and Companies Act. It is a violation of US SEC laws,” he / she had said.

2018

Salil Parekh takes charge as

CEO April 2018: The whistleblower from 2017, in a letter to the SEBI

Chairman, had said, “I have written several letters on the shady acquisitions done by the earlier board of Infosys and tried to bury the whole issue by undertaking managed investigations and paying some hush money to earlier CFO Rajiv

Bansal.” This was with regard

Ultimately, the saga led to board Chairman Sesasayee and

Vishal Sikka stepping down from their positions and Nandan

Nilekani and Salil Parekh taking charge as Chairman and CEO respectively. May 2018: Another whistleblower writes to the securities market regulators in India and the

US, after the company had announced its intention to sell

Panaya and Skava by March 2019. Although former CEO

Vishal Sikka had stepped down following the controversy, the whistleblower turned his guns on Chairman Nandan Nilekani, accusing him of “conniving with the current board to quietly bury all the wrongdoings of the earlier board.” The fact that

Sesasayee and Sikka had signed

“non-disparagement” obligations, said the whistleblower, Nandan Nilekani indicated that wrongdoings had been found in the investigation reports, “the release of which will be a damning indictment of the company and those directors.”