Infosys Hires PwC To Investigate Anonymous Whistleblower Allegations Against CEO Salil Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy

Infosys, which is currently in the middle of a storm due to anonymous allegations by whistleblowers, has hired audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to probe the allegations.

The development has come after the company hired law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Company. Its internal auditor Ernst & Young (EY) will also probe its revenue recognition practices.

The decision to hire PwC came after the Infosys board decided to carry out an investigation independent of EY and Shardul Amarchand for a fresh and independent set of eyes to examine.

A few anonymous employees at Infosys had accused CEO Salil Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy of unethical practices from many quarters, along with concerns about Parekh's travels to the US and Mumbai.

According to whistleblowers who call themselves ‘Ethical Employees’, Parekh directed employees to cook account books to show favorable numbers and coerced staffers not to reveal crucial data to board members.

Chairman Nandan Nilekani had informed that one board member received two anonymous complaints on September 30, 2019. One of them was dated September 20, 2019, and a second one was undated.

Later, a media report had alleged that one of the co-founders and a former senior executive were in cahoots with whistleblowers 'Ethical Employees', which Nilekani denied and condemned.

Chairman Nandan Nilekani said that such speculations seemed to be aimed at tarnishing the image of respected individuals.

In a filing with the stock exchanges on November 2, Infosys said that there were not given any evidence to back up the allegations.

“With respect to the anonymous complaints, there is no prima facie evidence that the company has received until date to corroborate any of the allegations made. In any event, the audit committee retained the services of law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Company to investigate the matter,” Infosys said in its filing.

Infosys also cited the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and stated that unless an event or information is deemed to be “material" that is under the LODR Regulations, it had no obligation to disclose the same under Regulation 30 of LODR Regulations.

Infosys also stated that the stock exchanges would be informed about the findings of the investigation into whistleblowers' allegations.