Infosys untouchable, ‘not even God’ will find evidence of fraud

• Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani told analysts that not ‘even God’ can change the company’s numbers.
  
• He said that the company’s finance team is feeling insulted by the whistleblower allegations.
  
• Nilekani also told analysts that Infosys’ clients will continue to conduct business with the company as the investigation continues.
  

Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani, believes that Infosys is untouchable. He said that not ‘even God’ can change its numbers, in an analyst call. This came after whistleblowers accused the company of sweeping $50 million under the rug.

"Infosys has strong processes, even God can’t change the numbers of this company. Our finance team is feeling insulting by these allegations. But I don’t want to bias the investigation," Nilekani told analysts, according to ET.

During the meeting, Nilekani also said that the company’s clients aren’t going to hold back spending just because of an ongoing investigation. He assured analysts that he had already reached out to clients and proactively told them that there was nothing to worry about.

"Customers are extremely supportive. Customers have faith in Infosys and deal flow continues to be as good ever," said Nilekani.

On November 4, Infosys and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) inked a multi-year deal. The tech giant said that it’s going to help SGRE’s digital transformation but the financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Infosys’ story so far

Infosys is conducting an internal audit with Ernst & Young and hired Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas to investigate the whistleblower claims. The company’s CEO Salil Parekh, and CFO Nilanjan Roy are accused of unethical practices — such as inflating deal numbers to show larger margins and asking the sales team to hide information to report higher revenue.

On Monday, Infosys reported that it has not been able to find any ‘prima facie’ evidence to support the whistleblower’s allegations.

"Given the circumstances at this stage, where there is complete absence of prima facie evidence and the Anonymous Complaints are still under investigation, the Company is not in a position to determine the concreteness, credibility and materiality of the anonymous complaints," the company said in a statement to the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday.

Infosys is currently being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). There at least one class action lawsuit filed against the company based on the allegations.

See also:
Infosys to ‘vigorously’ defend itself against whistleblower allegations

Infosys is in more trouble as a class action lawsuits gather steam in the US

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