Infosys may sack more at BPO unit for 'overcharging Apple'

IT services major Infosys, which fired top executive of its BPO unit for overcharging Apple Inc against the company's code of conduct, is set to sack more employees at the unit as the spotlight on financial impropriety involving one of its marquee clients, falls on more people.

Sources familiar with the matter said at least six employees at one of Infosys BPO's European subsidiaries will be asked to leave soon after internal investigations revealed that they had produced inflated invoices and purportedly overbilled Apple for many months.

The amount involved was "financially insignificant", sources said, adding that the company was taking harsh action nevertheless as it comes as an unwelcome distraction for the new CEO Vishal Sikka as he seeks to bring Infosys back to its former glory.

Infosys, the country's second-largest IT services exporter, said on Tuesday it had fired Abraham Mathews, chief financial officer of Infosys BPO unit, for failure to comply with the company's code of conduct.

Infosys BPO chief executive officer Gautam Thakkar also resigned on "moral grounds" and would leave the company on 30 November, Infosys said. It did not give details about the charges against Mathews.

Infosys spokeswoman Sarah Gideon said the company would not comment further on the confidential investigations.

"The financial irregularities are not material in nature and the company has already made required disclosures. The company has taken disciplinary action on employees," she said in an email.

"We have always adhered to the highest corporate governance standards," said a senior executive at Infosys.

"In the particular case, although it was a financially insignificant amount, the CFO should have reported the incident. For reasons best known to him, he did not and so we were left with no option," the Infosys executive said.

The irregularities in Infosys BPO's dealings with Apple came out during an internal audit, said one of the people at Infosys, who declined to be named.

Infosys earlier this year brought in Vishal Sikka as its new CEO to chart a new strategy for the company, once a trend-setter for India's more than $100 billion IT outsourcing industry. Infosys has struggled in recent years to retain staff and market share.