Changes the senior leadership team, tightens processes.
Information technology major Wipro has changed the senior leadership team of its finance department after detecting a fraud allegedly committed by one of its employees, who siphoned off around $4 million from company’s funds by getting access to a colleague’s password.
After the discovery of the embezzlement, Wipro has tightened its processes in the finance department.
“We have very stringent processes in place but they were not being followed. Now, the company is ensuring that these are followed by everyone,” said Shreemal.
Legal experts said Wipro’s case is a rare one in the IT industry as workers in the sector follow very high ethics. “Cases like fraud and cheating are not a rule in the IT sector but exception,” said S R Arun of ALMT Legal Partners.
He said the maximum punishment in such cases is up to 3-7 years of imprisonment, along with a fine.
The money was diverted from one of Wipro’s bank accounts over the last couple of years and came to light only in December last year when it showed an overdraft transaction despite the company having sufficient balance.
The company has recovered half of the embezzled amount and officials confirmed that only one person was involved in the act.
It is not yet certain whether the employee involved in the crime has been fired.
“Even though only one person was involved, the senior leadership team (of the finance department) has been changed,” said Rajendra Shreemal, head of investor relationship and treasury of Wipro.
He, however, said Suresh Senapaty will continue to head the finance operation of the company.
The staffer was employed with the company’s ‘controllership’ division in the finance department, which is responsible for maintaining its financial books and has powers to authorise payments whenever needed. The division has reportedly been disbanded after the financial scam was detected.
Interestingly, Shreemal said the fraud did not show up in the company’s routine accounts reconciliation as it involved small amounts over a long period. According to reports, the employee siphoned off company’s money to his personal accounts in multiple transactions of between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.2 crore.
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