Infosys, which has been in the limelight over the past few weeks for all the wrong reasons, has issued a statement saying they “strongly condemn the mischievous insinuations made by anonymous sources against the co-founders and former colleagues, suggesting their involvement in the recent whistleblower allegations.”
The letter dated 20 September 2019, which was submitted to the board of Infosys Limited and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by an anonymous group called ‘Ethical Employees’ made grave allegations against the chief executive officer (CEO) Salil Parekh and chief financial officer (CFO) Nilanjan Roy. The anonymous whistleblowers said that the CEO and CFO had “asked them” to show more profits in the treasury by “taking up risks” and “make changes to policies”.
Furthermore, the letter also alleged that CEO Salil Parekh had said “no one in the board understands these things, they are happy as long as the share price is up. Those two Madrasis (Sundaram and Prahalad) and Diva (Kiran) make silly points, you just nod and ignore them”.
The letter also alleged that the CEO of Infosys Sahil Parekh spent two and a half days in a week in Ecity and rest in Mumbai, and his travel expenses were paid by the company.
"These speculations are appalling and seem to be aimed at tarnishing the image of some of the most accomplished and respected individuals. I have deep regard for the life-long contribution of all our cofounders. They have built this institution and have served this company selflessly and even today, remain committed to the long-term success of Infosys,” said Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Infosys.
Infosys has also stated that an Audit Committee has appointed an external law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations made in the complaints, and the outcome of the investigation would be shared at a relevant time with all stakeholders of the company.