Apple fallout: More executives likely to leave Infy BPO

The exit of Infosys BPO unit  CFO Abraham Mathews on Tuesday on charges of violating the code of conduct of the company has further fuelled speculations of a cascading effect on other top executives as well.

Infosys had reportedly asked its CFO to tender his resignation for failing to comply with the company's code of conduct. Chief Executive Officer Gautam Thakkar decided to quit on “moral grounds” and is set to leave the company by the month-end.

Sources said Mathews faced action as he did not report overbilling of the back-end services being provided by Infosys BPO to Apple. He also failed to act swiftly on the charge. These irregularities came to light during an internal audit of the company done earlier this year.

According to inside sources, the company has launched an internal probe by a high-level committee involving K V Kamath and CEO Vishal Sikka, along with other board members.
Sources also revealed that Infosys would interrogate more employees, clean up its balance sheet, and bring its European BPO business under the scanner to ensure greater transparency with all its stakeholders.

Financial irregularities
The company spokeswoman said the financial irregularities are not material in nature and the company has already made required disclosures.

“The company has taken disciplinary action against the employees involved. We will not be able to comment on client-specific matters or on the investigation as they are confidential in nature,” the statement said.

Infosys handles a few outsourced application development and maintenance work for Cupertino-based Apple. The US company has a few other Indian IT services providers.
Attempts to reach former Infosys BPO CEO Gautam Thakkar were futile.

According to Greyhound Research CEO Sanchit Vir Gogia, Infosys has done well to come out and talk about the internal fraud in the company.

“It showcases Infosys no-nonsense culture when it comes to customers. This (the executive exits) is not going to affect their business,” he said.

Infosys decided to take up the issue in all "seriousness" so that the extent of the damage done to its reputation could be checked and an example set for its employees, another source said.

The company declined to comment further on client specific matters or on the investigation as they are "confidential in nature".