Infosys Shares Tank 16% After Whistleblowers Accuse CEO, CFO Of 'Unethical Practices'

Indian IT and outsourcing giant Infosys' stocks suffered a 16 percent blow Tuesday as a group of whistleblowers accused the CEO and the CFO of the organization of "unethical practices".

The American Depository Receipts (ADRs) of Infosys Limited took a plunge amidst anonymous whistleblowers' allegations that Chief Executive Officer Salil Parekh and Chief Financial Officer Nilanjan Roy were involved in marginalizing profits in multiple billion-dollar deals. It was down to $8.91 in premarket trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Chairman Nandan Nilekani, on Tuesday, said the company was probing the allegations.

To reaffirm their accusation against the conglomerate, the whistleblowers' group said it had recordings and mails of the event. The group had sent a letter to the Infosys board on Sept. 20.

The allegations include bypassing appropriate review and approval processes on many large deals with negligible margin, suppressing information from auditors and board members, ignorance of accounting standards in revenue and cost recognition to boost short-term revenue along with pressurizing the treasury to increase income by taking high-risk options.

In a statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the whistleblowers stated, “He (the CEO) directs them to make wrong assumptions to show margins. CFO is compliant and he prevents us from showing in board presentations large deal issues. . . Several billion-dollar deals of last few quarters have nil margin.” They added, “Please ask auditors to check deal proposals, margins, undisclosed upfront commitments made and revenue recognition.”

In the wake of the event, financial services giant Morgan Stanley said, “The recent whistleblower news could put the stock under pressure. This comes as a setback for the company and could de-rate multiples until clarity emerges.”