INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Mumbai: US-based Cognizant Technology Solutions has agreed to pay $25 million (Rs 178 crore) to settle charges towards violation of the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said.
The US regulator said Friday that two former
Cognizant executives were charged for their roles in facilitating payments of millions of dollars in bribe to an Indian government
official.
The SEC alleged that in 2014, a senior government official from Tamil Nadu demanded a $2-million bribe from a construction firm
It also alleged that Cognizant authorised the construction firm to make two additional bribes totalling more than $1.6 million
corporate goals is an illusory path to longterm success
While always the wrong choice, it is particularly egregious when senior executives chart that course for those they lead, as our complaint
noting that this matter does not involve our work with clients and has not had an impact on our ability to provide the quality services our
million on alcoholic beverages company Diageo for bribing officials in Asia, including India
CASE DETAILS: The Cognizant case relates to the period between 2014 and 2016
In 2014, Cognizant authorised a contractor to pay a $2 million bribe to a senior government official for the issuance of a planning permit
for a project in Chennai.
The payment, along with a scheme to conceal a $2.5 million reimbursement to the contractor, was authorised by two
to pay a bribe of about $770,000 to a government official for an environmental clearance for a project in Pune.
In 2015, the Indian
subsidiary retroactively authorised and reimbursed the same third-party contractor for about $870,000 in bribes that it had paid to
government officials for construction-related permits in Siruseri, Tamil Nadu
Cognizant received ill-gotten gains of about $16,394,351 as a result of the conduct, the SEC said.
The unlawful payments were paid from
During the relevant period, Cognizant also failed to devise and maintain a sufficient system of internal accounting controls.
--Jochelle
Mendonca in Bengaluru contributed to this report
