Wipro rejigs finance team after fraud detected

BANGALORE - Wipro Ltd has shunted out a few key employees from the finance department following an inquiry into embezzlement of funds for over three years, a senior company official said Saturday.

“Of the 15 employees in the controllership team, eight-10 have been shifted from key positions in the finance department as their association and actions with the perpetrator of the fraud have created a conflict of interest for them,” the official told IANS on condition of anonymity.

In the company’s finance section, the controllership team deals with payment, maintains account books and monitors transactions.

The global software major admitted Feb 17 that it had detected in late December 2009 the siphoning of an unspecified amount by one of its employees, Anoop Agarwal, working in the controllership division.

Company sources, however, estimate around Rs.18 crore (Rs.180 million/$4 million) was involved in the embezzlement.

“The inquiry revealed that the embezzlement involved only one employee who transferred from company’s bank accounts to his personal account in several transactions over a period of three years from November 2006,” the company said in a statement earlier.

The company also confirmed that the accused committed suicide a few weeks after his actions came to light.

“We have zero-tolerance for any non-compliance with our policies and processes. We take pride in upholding the highest levels of integrity and corporate governance in our operations,” the company pointed out.

The company appointed an internal team to investigate the financial fraud under the supervision of its audit committee.

“The investigation concluded that, while the matter should be taken seriously, the amounts embezzled were not material from a financial reporting perspective given the size of the company and the scale of its operations,” the statement noted.

Following the fraud detection, the company has put into place additional initiatives to help ensure its financial controls and financial reporting remain unassailable by anyone within and outside.